The Chief on Remnant
by sergeant peace
Summary: three years after the battle of the Ark, Master Chief awakens to a whole new world full of monsterous creatures and super powered teens with odd weaponry. Can he adapt to this new world and threat? or will he succumb to the tide of evil that threatens to destroy life on this small, broken dustball?
1. arrival on remnant

Cortana watched subroutines work on what was left of the UNSC Forward Onto Dawn, "Hmm...we're nowhere near UNSC or Covenant space...and the star maps are not giving me a good point of reference…" she muttered, "two years and i still haven't been able to find any trace of life...wait...what is that?" she asked as she turned on one of the ships outer cameras, her eyes widened slightly as a Slipspace rupture opened up and seemingly and engulfed them, "What's going on!" she shouted as the ship shaked violently before settling, she turned her view back to the cameras and found that they were in an entirely new space, what looked like a shattered moon slowly passing them, "that...is Incredible…" she said as she made the Camera zoom in, "there's a planet…" she said, instantly performing a planet wide scan to determine survivability and the possibility of life on the planet, "amazing." she whispered before turning her attention to Master Chief, still in Cryo sleep, "chief, time to wake up." she said, watching as the ice and frost covering the casket slowly melted and disappeared.

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Chief woke up in a haze, his vision blurry and his neck stiff, "Cortana…" he groaned as his vision cleared up.

"Chief, you've been in Cryo for two years, try and take it slow."

Chief rolled his shoulders as the casket opened, "have we been found?" he asked, carefully pulling himself out and onto the deck for the first time in two years.

"Well, yes and no, there was a slipspace rupture that seems to have transported us to a new location, I've found a planet with not only breathable air, but life forms...but...from what i can tell they haven't noticed our presence yet, and there's something else...something...not right."

"Is it the flood?" Chief asked, walking over to the terminal.

"No...something else…either way our distress beacon is alive and strong, and the gravitational pull from the planet as well as the speed at which we've been traveling these last few years...we'll reach the planet in under three days."

"Then i guess we should start preparing for the inevitable...what do we have in terms of weapons."

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Professor Ozpin sat silently in his office, looking at something on his scroll.

"Professor Ozpin?" Ruby asked as she entered his office, Professor Goodwitch behind her, "you wanted to see me?"

"That I did." Ozpin said, "you and your team have been through quite a bit over the last three days, have you not?"

"Yes sir," Ruby said, thinking about the fight against Roman Torchwick at the docks, "Nothing we couldn't handle!"

"Indeed." he said with a smile, "and it would seem, that you will be going on your next mission very soon."

"Search and Destroy?" she asked.

"Search and rescue," he said, playing the recording that he had been obsessing over for the last three days.

" _mayday, mayday, this is UNSC FFG-201 Forward Unto Dawn, requesting immediate evac, survivors aboard. Prioritization code Victor5-3-Sierra-117."_

"Is that a distress beacon?" she asked..

"Indeed it is," Ozpin said, "it pinged off the tower three days ago, it is unknown exactly where the distress signal is originating from, but-" he stopped as a a loud explosion rocked the room, "what in the name of Oum…" Ozpin started, standing up and walking towards the window, he looked out to see a large, unidentified object falling from the sky, passing over the city of Vale before crash landing off in the cliffside forest.

"What was that?" Ruby asked, looking at the downed craft in awe.

"That...is the subject of our distress beacon." Ozpin said, "get your team ready."

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Master Chief held on for dear life as the remnants of _Forward Onto Dawn_ slammed into the forest, "Cortana! Status report!" he shouted.

"Hull integrity is stable, we lost part of the vehicle bay, but nothing of importance went with it."

"Where are we?"

"Some type of forest, nearest settlement is ten clicks out." she said as the Dawn slowed down, "good news, we still have a warthog operational, bad news, i don't think it's getting anywhere in this forest."

"Looks like we're hoofin' it." he said, making his way towards the nearest airlock.

"Do we ever get to travel a different way?"

Chief didn't say anything as he pried the door open, quickly pulling the MA5B assault rifle off his back and scanning the area, "clear." he said, jumping down onto the forest floor, "Is the air breathable?"

"That's what 'habitable planet' means chief."

"Stow the sarcasm." he muttered, slowly looking around, "i'm picking something up on my motion tracker, Friendlies?"

"Unclear...but they're headed this way, get ready John."

Chief raised his rifle once more, watching the treeline and his motion tracker as several different blips appeared, "They're surrounding us." he muttered.

"Incoming overead!" Cortana shouted, "it's...it's...what is that!"

Chief looked up with wide eyes as he saw a gigantic bird fly over him, "what in the hell…" he whispered,raising his rifle as the bird dove down towards him, "Cortana!" he shouted as he unleashed a salvo at the bird, hitting some kind of bone plate that covered it's head. "What the hell is this thing?" he asked as he dove to the side, narrowly avoiding it's razor sharp beak.

"I don't know, scans aren't revealing anything!" she said, "I do however have a recommendation."

"Which is?" he asked, slowly pulling a grenade as the bird circled around for another attack.

"That would be killing it!"

"Always one to point out the obvious." he said as the bird dove once more, he primed the grenade and threw it as the bird shrieked, the baseball sized compact explosives soared into it's mouth and lodged in it's throat, making the bird careen off with a choked shriek, it's head exploding as it crashed through the trees.

"We have incoming to the right chief."

Chief quickly wheeled around, levelling the rifle as several monsterous creatures burst through the foilage, "Cortana?"

"Before you ask, no, i don't know what these are, but if i had to guess, i'd say they look like werewolves and bears...with some kind of...bone armor."

One of the 'werewolves' roared, making the others charge. Chief fired the rifle in short bursts, taking down several of the smaller wolves before dodging out of the way of a bear, he emptied what remained of his clip into the base of it's skull before mounting the rifle on his back and pulling his sidearm, firing single shots into the horde, "we need an exit."

"There's a gap in their lines, fifteen yards, setting waypoint."

Chief took off, vaulting off the back of a bear and reloading the rifle in his landed and took off runing, "we'll come back for our munitions when we clear this area." he said.

"Ships defenses will keep them out for the most part." cortana said as Chief continued to run, firing behind him at the wolves now giving chase. "But i think they're more determined to kill us for whatever reason."

"I'm just that popular." chief deadpanned as he reached an outcropping of rock, "time to play king of the hill." he said, climbing the spire of rock and standing atop it as the pack caught up, he fired with deadly precision against the horde, keeping track of his ammo until the last bullet was chambered, he'd then eject the mag and slam another one in without having to stop firing.

"We have something approaching from the west!"

"More hostiles?" Chief asked, slamming his fist into a charging bear, cracking it's bone mask and snapping it's neck.

"No...it's...it's engines...it's some kind of transport craft."

"We about to have troops?" he asked, pulling a knife out and throwing it with practiced ease, catching a werewolf in the throat.

"Nice throw," Cortana commented, "and as far as i can tell, there's not too many life forms on board...maybe a single fireteam?"

Chief grappled with the last Werewolf, Snapping it's neck as the transport hovered over, it's side doors opening, he tightened the grip on his rifle as four teenage girls jumped out and landed around him, _Blonde, Redhead, Black Hair and White hair…"_ Cortana said into his earpiece, _oldest is about seventeen, youngest around fifteen, all of them are at the peak of fitness for their height, weight, and stature..._ he raised his rifle almost at the same instant that one of the girls pointed the scythe at him _And they are currently very hostile._

"Who are you?" she asked.

"You first." Chief said, keeping his eye on the girl with pure white hair, who was currently pointing her rapier at his feet.

"I'm Ruby Rose," she said, slowly lowering Crescent Rose, "guys, relax." as soon as she said that the others put their weapons down, "We're Team RWBY; we were sent by Professor Ozpin to help anyone who was in the crash...so...i guess that's you Mr…?"

"Master Chief Petty Officer John 117, Designation Sierra 117." he said, slowly lowering his gun, "and yes, I was the only one on board the ship."

"Well...what...do we call you?"

"Call Me Master Chief." he said, "where are we?"

"Cliffside Forests, about forty miles from Beacon."

"I mean what planet are we on." Chief asked. Starting to walk back towards the wreckage of the Dawn.

"Uh...what Planet do you think we're on?" The Blonde asked hesitantly.

"Don't know,that's why i'm asking." Chief said as he continued on to the wreckage, stopping short as he saw even more of the monsters he had just been facing. He squatted down beside a downed tree, "What are these things?" He asked, looking to Ruby.

"They're Grimm." Ruby said, "monsters."

"And a lot of them too, "the blonde said, "we got Ursai, Beowulves, and a small pack of creepers. What did you do to piss them off so bad?"

"Just gave them the Standard UNSC welcome," Chief said, "is there a way to get them away from the wreckage?"

"Nope, we'd have to clear them out." she smirked, "i'm Yang by the way, that's Blake, and Ice Queen."

"Hey!" she objected, "it's Weiss, Weiss Schnee."

"Good to meet you all," he said, checking his ammo reserves, "Cortana, can you lock the ship down from here? I'm not going to be able to clear those things out on my own."

 _"I could, but there's no way of knowing if the ship will unlock the next time we come back."_ Cortana said into his ear piece.

"Who's Cortana?" Yang asked, "she another survivor?"

"No," he said to her, "lock it down cortana, getting back in won' be a problem next time."

" _Copy that Chief."_

"So who is she?" Yang asked as Chief stood up, looking at the team.

"Classified." he said as he walked back to the outcropping of rock, he looked at Ruby,"where's the Evac point?"

"Uh...the bullhead landed in a clearing to the south." Ruby said hesitantly.

"Lets go.' Chief said, heading south, "Ruby, scout on ahead for anymore Grimm, Yang, Blake, watch the flanks-"

"Hold on!" Weiss shouted, stepping in front of him, "you aren't our superior."

"Did i ask?" he asked, moving her to the side and continuing to walk.

"I don't know who you think you are-" she started angrily.

"I think I'm the highest ranking officer here, i also think i'm going to the evac point, which is what we would do whether or not i took charge, as it is i don't think either you, or any of your team is currently apart of your countries military, which makes you civilians, which still makes me the highest ranking person here. Unless i'm wrong, that means you have to follow my orders.' he looked at her, "that about sum things up Ice Queen?"

"Ooooh." Yang and Ruby echoed while Blake's eyes widened slightly, no one had talked to Weiss like that in...well...ever.

"Wha-civili-no! We are huntresses!" Weiss snapped, "if anything that makes you our subordinate!"

"I don't recognize that rank." Chief said, "Sounds made up."

"It's not!"

"Uh Weiss...Hunters aren't exactly a rank." Ruby started hesitantly, "and if Mr. Chief here is apart of the military…"

"Then maybe he should take the lead." Yang finished.

Weiss narrowed her eyes, "that doesn't mean he gets to belt out orders like he's some-"

"Are you finished?" Chief interrupted, making Weiss stutter to a stop, "because daylights wasting."

Weiss clenched her fist and started to reach for her rapier, only for Ruby to stop her, "Just do what he says." Ruby whispered into her ear, "when we get him to Ozpin we'll probably never see him again."

"Fine." she growled.

Chief turned around and started off again, "Ruby." Chief started.

"On it!" she yelped, quickly streaking off into the forest ahead of them.

Yang and Blake fell into step beside Weiss, "guy's kind of a hard ass." Yang whispered to Weiss.

"He is Military…" Blake started, "you think he's some kind of Atlesian Special Ops?"

"If he was an operative then where's the rest of his team?" Weiss grumbled, "and that ship doesn't look Atlesian at all."

"So what? You think he's really a space man?"

"That's preposterous."

"It could be true."

"I mean-"

"You three do know I can hear you right?" Chief asked, making them tense.

"Sorry, i didn't think you could hear us." Yang tried.

"Who i am, and where I come from is of no concern to you three at the moment." Chief said, "what concerns all of us is getting to the Evac without those creatures attacking-"

"They're called Grimm." Weiss interjected.

"Whatever they're called, I'd rather get out of here before more show up."

"So what? Your scared?" Blake asked disbelievingly.

"I'm cautious." he said, looking ahead as Ruby came running back.

"The way is clear sir!" Ruby declared, saluting him.

"How far from the evac site are we?" he asked, walking past her and motioning her to follow him.

"Um...about four hundred meters." Ruby guessed, "give or take a couple meters."

"You ran all the way over there and back?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Yes sir! My semblance is speed so…"

"Semblance.." Chief mused.

" _Must be some kind of field equipment. Something to augment their physical abilities. Cortana said, "if you'd let me, i'd like to try and poke their brains, find out more about this planet we've found ourselves on."_

"Go crazy.' Chief said. Making Ruby look at him in confusion.

"Uh…"

"Hello Ruby." Cortana said, from Chief's external speakers, making everyone present jump.

"Uh...hello?" Ruby said awkwardly.

"I thought he was a dude." Yang whispered, earning her a sharp nudge from Weiss.

"My name is Cortana." she said, "I'm a Smart AI that has been paired with the Master Chief, i'd like to ask you a few questions about this place."

"I...will help you as much as i can." Ruby said cheerfully.

Chief chuckled to himself as Cortana started to pester Ruby about everything she could, first starting with what a Semblance was, which then lead to a conversation about Aura and the Grimm as well as something called Dust; which in turn moved onto the topic of Atlas and the Schnee Dust Company, and then to Faunus.

"Humans with an animal trait." Cortana muttered, as chief climbed onto the bullhead after Blake. "we've never encountered something like this, tell me, do they make up a large percentage of this planet's population?"

"You keep saying 'this planet'." Blake said, "what do you mean?"

"Technically speaking this is the third planet i've been on, and probably the fiftieth one Chief has been on."

"Cortana." Chief started warningly.

"Relax, i'm not going to reveal anything classified." she said, the girls could almost hear the eyeroll in her voice, "anyways, we're apart of the UNSC United Nations Space Command, it's the military and scientific branch of the Unified Earth Government, with them we've been through many confrontations and battles against the Covenant, a race of Aliens bent on human annihilation."

"Aliens?" Yang asked, an eyebrow raising.

"Yes," Cortana said, "we battled them for over twenty-seven years, from 2525 to 2552, Chief himself witnessed not only the the beginning of the war, but what was supposed to be the end."

"Supposed to?" Weiss asked, her voice tinged with nervousness.

"It's unknown at the current time whether or not war is entirely over with." Cortana said, "considering that last battle tore our ship in two and stranded myself and the chief in dead space to await rescue. That was almost three years ago."

"So how'd yall get here?" Yang asked.

"We drifted," cortana said, "the explosion that tore our ship in half, sent us through space, not at a very quick pace mind you, but a very quick pace mind you, but a surprise slipspace rupture of unknown origin brought us closer to your planet."

"Slipspace?" Weiss asked.

"Oh so much to teach all of you." she said.

"Slipspace is a hyper compressed multidimensional space separate from our own reality." Chief recited, "it is a reality we can access to gain faster than light travel, turning hundreds of years worth of travel into a couple of months."

"That's...impossible." Weiss muttered, "The science and math and mechanics-"

"I could transfer all relevant data to you, as it stands i have several hundred gigabytes worth of documents that can completely explain slipspace and-"

"Cortana." Chief said warningly.

"Come on John, they're children, i doubt they'd be able to recreate the engines capable of Slipspace travel."

"But they're superiors might be able to." Chief said as the bullhead came in for a landing and the bay doors opened up, revealing Professor Ozpin and the teachers of Beacon waiting for them. Chief started reaching for his gun, only for an unknown force to stop him before his fingers could even graze the cool metal.

"Good evening," Ozpin said, "my name is Professor Ozpin, and I have some questions for you."

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Chief stood in front of Ozpin's desk, Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port flanking him, Team RWBY stood off to the side, watching nervously as Ozpin mulled over the information chief gave them.

"Hmm...well, I do believe much of what you told me is truth." he said, leaning forward in his chair, "at least, what you could tell me that wasn't deemed classified by you or your AI. but what i want to know, is what you plan to do now?"

Chief thought about it, "i don't know sir." he said, "as far as I know, the war is over, and getting home seems an impossibility at this moment."

"Then, perhaps i can offer you a job." he said, "on a...temporary basis of course."

"What would we be doing?" cortana asked, appearing on Ozpins desk.

"Well, according to team RWBY, you are quite the warrior; and while I'd love to send you off into the wildlands to take care of any marauding bandits or hordes of grimm, I do believe your skill set may be better utilized in helping our faculty here teach the next generation."

"You want me to be a teacher?" Chief asked incredulously.

"Indeed, perhaps you can give them a different view point of war. A new fighting style, new theories that could help them advance their thinking and skills, teach them how a fabled 'Spartan' fights." he said.

Chief turned off his radio and asked cortana, "should we do it?"

"It wouldn't hurt, and be entertaining to see you interact with Greenhorns again."

"You're really only looking for the entertainment value?"

"Oh don't get me wrong, that plays a big part, but there's something else...Ozpin's hiding something, something huge, but his network encryption is out of this world, i can barely make it four inches without almost setting off alarms and firewalls...i think it'd be prudent to find out what he really knows."

"Agreed." John said, turning his radio back on, "I accept your offer Professor." he said.

Ozpin smiled, "Excellent, now, feel free to deny this request, but i'd like you to remove your helmet."

Chief hesitated.

"As I said, you don't have to, i'm merely curious as to what you truly look like."

Chief slowly reached up and disengaged the locks that kept his helmet attached, ever so slowly he removed his helmet for the first time in three years.

He was pale, too pale, and he knew that, his skin hadn't seen the sun for long periods of time since he was fourteen, and it showed. His brown hair was slightly longer then he usually kept it, but was in otherwise healthy condition, his blue eyes looked around in suspicion, as if waiting for a sniper to take his head off.

"Whoa...someone needs some sun." Yang said, grunting when Weiss elbows her hard.

"Do you ever take that armor off?" Goodwitch asked, making Chief turn his eyes to her.

"Not for a while." he said, "last time I removed this helmet was after my armor was almost destroyed and I got an upgrade. That was three years ago."

"Well, i'm certain that you don't have to wear your armor everywhere while you're here Master Chief." Ozpin said good naturedly.

"All do respect Professor, i'd like to keep it on...for now." Chief said, "it takes a while to take this armor off and on."

"Hmm…" he looked over to Ruby, "Ms. Rose, perhaps it would be...prudent to introduce the Master Chief to Chief Jora in the shop class."

Ruby's eyes lit up she looked at Chief, who suddenly looked apprehensive.

"Before we do that." Chief started, looking back to Ozpin, "I request permission to return to my ship."

"For?"

"Ammo, weapons, and to remove anything that could potentially be dangerous to you and yours."

"What could be on this ship that could be dangerous to us?" Goodwitch asked.

"Missiles for one." Cortana said, "several types of missiles ranging from air-to-air to bunker busters. As well as an arsenal that can arm a small garrison, every terrorists wet dream."

Ozpin nodded, "and how do you propose we remove these harmful materials?" he asked.

"The arsenal i need." chief said, "For general upkeep of my weapons, the missiles, we need to destroy as soon as possible."

"I agree." Ozpin said, "I will assign team RWBY and JNPR to assist you in removing your arsenal. The missiles are another matter, our students are not trained to dispose of explosives."

"Does your military have EOD specialists?" he asked.

"I'm sure we can scrounge up someone, though they won't be joining you on the outset of the mission," Ozpin stood up, "Master Chief, you are now in command of Team RWBY and JNPR, please keep them safe."

"Of course Professor." Chief said, turning to team RWBY, "we head out in an hour, gather what gear and munitions you'll need and meet me at the docks."

"Okie Dokie!" Ruby exclaimed, saluting awkardly before the four left the room.

Chief put his helmet on, "before I leave," he started, looking at Ozpin, "is there any way you can give Cortana relevant information on the White Fang, as well sa any Grimm we will be facing."

"But of course." Ozpin said, "I'll have it all transferred to her as soon as she stops hacking at the fire walls."

"You knew i was in the system?" Cortana asked in surprised.

"Indeed." he said, taking a sip of his coffee, a small smile on his lips, "though i have to say, you were making much farther progress then previous attempts."

"I'd be impressed if i wasn't so furious at the moment."


	2. kill confirmed

Jaune fidgeted beside Ruby as their teams waited for the Master Chief to show up at the airship docks.

"So...this guy is...a teacher?" Jaune asked.

"Now he is," Yang said, leaning against Blake, who attempted to shrug her off.

"Where did he come from though?"

"The sky, if he's to be believed." Weiss sniffed. Glaring at the forest.

"Wow...a real life SPACEMAN!" Nora exclaimed, "do you think he's got like, lasers and aliens and-"

"Calm down Nora," Yang said in amusement, "so far he's only good at barking out orders."

"Yeah, he's big time military." Ruby chortled, "he even gave Weiss a 'stern reprimand' in the middle of the mission."

No way." Jaune laughed, "I don't think anyone could reprimand the Ice Queen."

"Well he did." Blake said, "The Master Chief is a soldier, he's good at following orders and giving orders. "

"Doesn't mean he's a good soldier." Weiss quipped. "For all we know he's some logistics paper pusher."

"I can assure you i'm not." Chief's stoic voice said. Making Weiss jump and turn around, the seven foot tall behemoth was looking down at all of them, barely seen behind him was Glynda Goodwitch, her arms crossed in front of her chest, glaring at them all and Making them shift uncomfortably. "At ease." he told them, "team RWBY, Team JNPR, today we will be acquiring the cargo from the down ship UNSC _Forward Unto Dawn,_ cargo will not only include arms and ammunition, but uniforms, food, fuel, and cryo pods, locations of high value cargo will be transferred to your Scrolls; make sure all weapons are prepped, loaded and ready, Mark?"

They all looked at him in confusion, "Mark?" Ruby asked.

Chief closed his eyes and sighed internally as a bullhead came in for a landing, "everyone understand?" he asked. Not attempting to explain.

They all nodded awkwardly, "why is Professor Goodwitch coming along?" Jaune asked hesitantly.

"To make sure The Master Chief doesn't turn out to be a rogue huntsmen while out with you all." Professor Goodwitch said, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Any more questions?" he asked, everyone shook their head no.

"Good, now get on the Bullhead." Chief said, counting off their numbers until he was sure eight were aboard, then he climbed on himself with Glynda following behind.

"Well that was painfully awkward." Cortana said in his helmet.

"I forgot who I was working with." he muttered, "It won't happen again."

"I highly doubt it." she said, going quiet as Pyrrha walked up to him.

"um...Master Chief?" she asked. Making him look down at her.

"Yes Ms. Nikos?" he asked.

"I just wanted to know...what was that about back there?" she asked, "when you said Mark."

Chief looked over to where the others stood, all were watching closely, "mark." he started, "is a code word that is used to get a confirmation on the orders just dispatched, or a confirmation on whether or not you're ready for a maneuver that has just been decided. the code word to answer this is 'sync'."

"Sync?" Jaune questioned.

"Microwave." Nora said with a cackle.

"Nora, it's not a competition." Ren said.

"But if it was, i totally would have won."

"Why would you need code words to say "do you got it? Yeah'." Yang asked.

"Shorten the phrase, save time." Chief said, walking past them to peer into the cockpit, "how far are we to the drop point?"

"About fifteen minutes out." The pilot shouted, "it's getting kind of late, Grimm will be out in droves."

"We'll try to be quick, if you can't provide an evac we'll stay in the ship."

"Sounds good Chief." she said, "You got a radio?"

"Frequency 3, channel 6." he said.

"Great, you need me i'll be on that channel, callsign is Echo 419."

Chief stiffened at that, "Echo 419." he asked.

"Yep," she said with a grin, "Foehammer."

" _I'm hit! Mayday! Mayday! Airfoil structure has been shot to hell! I can't hold her! I can't hold her!"_

"Chief?" Glynda asked, shaking Chief from his memories.

"Yes?" he muttered, slowly standing up straight.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine." he said, "good to be working with you Foehammer." he said, walking back into the main hold, his left hand clenched in a fist.

"So Chief." Yang started as Chief stopped at the back of the bullhead, "what kind of battles have you seen?"

"Classified." he said, turning around to look at them.

"Oh come on, you can't tell us anything about the 'war' that you were in?" Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Classified, means classified Ms. Schnee." he said.

"ETA 5 minutes!" Foehammer shouted.

"Get your weapons ready, i'll be first on the field, team RWBY follow up, we don't know how many Grimm will be in the area so be on watch, JNPR support us, mark." he bit back a curse as he said the word out of habit.

"Sync." Ruby piped up hesitantly.

"Sync." Yang said with a grin.

"Automatic dishwasher."

"NORA!" they all shouted.

Chief smiled slightly as the bay doors opened.

"Green light Chief! Go! Go! Go!"

Chief instantly jumped out of the bullhead, crashing through tree limbs and trunks and landing on the hard packed dirt a hundred yards from the _Forward Unto Dawn._ Team RWBY landing a few paces behind him, Professor Goodwitch coming down with team JNPR "Rose, Schnee, flank to the southwest, Belladonna, Xiao-Long, southeast, i'll go down the center with Arc and Nikos, Valkyrie stay put and be ready to use that grenade launcher, Ren keep her covered, we move quickly and quietly until we get to the objective, they're will possibly be hostiles other then the Grimm, if we encounter said hostiles then you will wait on my command before engaging. Mark?"

"Sync." They chorused.

"Refrigerator."

"Nora please." Ren said in exasperation as Chief took off down the middle, Glynda, Pyrrha and Jaune behind him.

"Arc, what kind of ranged weapons do you have?" chief asked as they ran.

"I don't have ranged weapons." he said as he jumped over a downed tree.

"What?"

"He's dead set on using his sword and shield." Pyrrha mumbled.

"We're coming up on the clearing." chief muttered, turning on his radio, which should be connected with their scrolls, "I'm picking up heat signatures, a lot of them, does anyone have eyes on the clearing?"

"I do!" Ruby said quickly, "looks like White Fang...they're trying to cut into the ship, and they're fighting off Grimm."

Chief slowed down and found a downed tree for cover, Pyrrha and Jaune did the same, he looked around the tree and confirmed what Ruby saw, "Everyone pick your targets, Rose, can you take out the one cutting into the hull?"

"Take out?" she asked.

"Yes, can you kill him?"

"I...uh…"

"I have the shot." Pyrrha said into her scroll, looking at Chief with concern, "Do you really want me to kill him?"

"They're enemy combatants." Chief said in way of explanation, ignoring Glynda's shocked glare, "everyone pick your targets, attempt to take them out in one shot, Valkyrie, when the shots go off, give them a salvo from your launcher, see if you can't thin those Grimm out," he looked to Jaune, "Arc, when the shots go off, me and you will move in. take care of the Grimm and any Stragglers still standing, Mark?"

"Sync." the chorused, albeit hesitantly.

"Nikos, when you're ready, take the shot." Chief said, readying his rifle.

Pyrrha let out a shaky breath as she drew a bead on the soldier cutting through the hull, she took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger. The bullet flew out the muzzle and soared through the air, slamming into the base of the White Fang soldiers head, making it explode in a pink mist.

"Weapons free.' Chief commanded firing several shots into the now confused White fang soldiers as several grenades streaked over his head, leaving a pink smoke in the air as they slammed into the ground, killing a large percentage of the Grimm, "Arc, follow me, the rest of you continue firing!" Chief said, vaulting over the trunk and engaging the Grimm. Jaune charged forward as well, swinging his arm in a large arc and cutting through a beowulf.

"On your right." Chief warned.

"I see him!" Jaune responded, slamming his shield into the beowulf charging at him and stabbing it through the neck, he turned around, ready to bring his sword down once more, only to stop as a white fang grunt appeared in front of him, the Faunus looked terrified, looking at Jaune with fear in his eyes as he clutched his bloody arm, Jaune hesitantly turned away from him, intent on facing the grimm once more, only to find there were no Grimm left.

"Arc behind you!" Chief shouted making Jaune turn and raise his Shield, stopping the knife from the white fang grunt.

"For the white fang!" he shrieked as he pulled the knife out and went to stab at Jaune again, only to be thrown to the side by a bullet from Chief's sidearm,slamming into his head and splattering Jaune's shield and face with blood.

Chief walked forward, "what was that Arc?" Chief asked.

"I...I...he was injured...i...didn't know he had a weapon." Jaune stuttered. Looking at the corpse in horror and shock.

"Next time there may not be someone watching your back." chief said, walking towards the Dawn as the others came running into the clearing. "Never hesitate."

"Jaune are you alright?" Pyrrha asked worriedly, looking at the blood covering her teammate, "what happened?"

"he...i...i thought he was surrendering…" Jaune mumbled, still shocked, "I thought he was surrendering…"

Chief looked at the remaining white fang soldiers, four in all, all of them injured, whether by a bullet from one of the teams, or from one of the Grimm, all of them looked at him in fear, some of them slowly reaching for weapons, chief brought his gun up, "don't even think about it." he said. Making the white fang raise their hands up in surrender, "Rose, you and the others get these soldiers secure, make sure they don't have any weapons."

"On it." Ruby mumbled out, walking over with Weiss, Chief looked at the two teams that had been placed under their command, most of them looked slightly haunted, but none more so than Jaune and Pyrrha.

"Chief…" Cortana said quietly in his ear, "They're only children…"

"I know Cortana...i know…" he muttered, turning his radio to frequency 3 "Echo 419, come in, over.'

" _Reading you loud and clear chief,"_ the response came in.

"Gonna need transportation for four prisoners, all in varying degrees of injury."

 _"Ten-four, be in bound in fifteen mikes, be advised, Atlesian specialists are enroute to provide EOD assistance as well as to escort the terrorists."_

"Copy that Foehammer." Chief said, turning around to look at them all, "Rose, you and your team keep those prisoners secure, Arc, set a perimeter, make sure no more surprise are heading towards us." he looked over to Jaune, who was still in shock. He walked over and put a hand on Jaune's shoulder, "hey." he said strongly. Making the boy look at him, "we're still in an active warzone; we need to make sure we don't get attacked with our pants down, stow it away, and do your job."

Jaune swallowed slightly, "yes sir.' he muttered, raising his sword, "Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, lets go."

They went off as Ruby walked over, "chief?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes Rose?" he asked, scanning the sky for avian Grimm.

"Why...why did we have to kill them?" she asked.

"You didn't kill them." Chief said, "from the looks of it, you and your team, as well as Arcs, shot to injure, only Nikos killed."

"But why give us that order?" Yang asked.

"They're terrorists," he said, "as well as enemy combatants-"

"They're misguided." blake said, barely containing her anger, "they didn't know what they were doing."

"Are you saying the one who nearly planted a knife in Arcs back didn't know what they were doing?" Chief asked, making Blake look away, "do you think these Faunus would have stood down if we had come running in? Or do you think they would have fought to the last man?" he looked to the sky as two bullheads came in for a landing. "I don't have the luxury of hesitance, of probing them to see what they do, the equipment in this ship can do devastatingly terrible in the wrong hands."

"And what is on the ship?" Weiss asked with narrowed eyes.

"You'll see." he said as the bullhead doors opened and several atlesian troops, four of them in heavier armor then the rest, exited the ships,

"These the prisoners?" one asked.

"Yes," chief said.

"We'll take it from here then," he said, nodding to Ruby and her team as they helped the Fang up and escorted them to the bullhead.

"Master Chief?" another asked, removing his bulky helmet to reveal a younger man, several scars going through his right eye, which had been replaced by a red bionic eye, his other was a deep blue, "Specialist Mendez," he said, "me and my team are here to get rid of some ordnance you guys got."

"Good to be working with you Mendez." he said, getting on the comms, "Arc, return to the ship, on the double time."

"Alright." Jaune's reply came.

"Cortana, see if you can't open that door." Chief said, walking towards the Dawn.

"On it Chief…" Cortana said as Glynda started to walk towards him, "incoming angry blonde."

"I see her." Chief said, turning towards her, "Yes ma'am?" he asked.

"What were you thinking?" she whispered fiercely as she got to him, "giving them that kind of order?"

"I was under the impression they were used to this kind of mission." Chief said, continuing to walk towards the dawn, Glynda hot on his trail.

"They are first year students, they've never had to deal with something like this." Glynda said, "they're children-"

"Who are in training to fight monsters and subjects of ill-repute." Chief said, looking at the door that was straining to open, now refusing to because of the cuts made by the white fang. "If you didn't think they could handled it, you should've suggested another team."

"We're not in the business of murdering." Glynda snapped.

"Neither am I." Chief said, putting his rifle on his back and wrenching the door open, "I'm a soldier, Professor Goodwitch, these...white fang terrorists were too; if we didn't shoot to kill, then we would have taken casualties and that's not something I'll allow, now if you'll excuse me, we still have a mission to accomplish."

Glynda glared at him for a little while longer, before stepping back and motioning for team RWBY and JNPR, who had been standing back to watch their fight, forward.

"We'll head to the armory first." chief said, "from there I'll escort Specialist mendez to the warheads while the rest of you start to pack all weapons and munitions into crates for transport. Mark."

"Sync."

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Chief watched as the teams slowly sorted through the weapons, packing them into weapons crates carefully, he almost laughed as he saw Ruby's eyes light up when she found the sniper rifles.

"Chief." Mendez called, walking up to him with a smile, "where the hell did you come from? This kind of ordnance is...I've never seen anything like it."

"Oh really?"

"I don't think we have anything close to the yield these things are theoretically going to be giving, I almost want to set a few off just to satisfy my curiosity."

"Not a smart idea," Cortana said, "unless you have a testing site."

"We have one in atlas but i doubt we'll be able to transport these there." Mendez muttered, "i'm probably correct in assuming you want these dismantled and destroyed without destroying the ship right?"

"Right." chief said.

"Well, there's quite a bit of ordnance, and not all of it i'm sure we know how to dismantle, but if there's a will right?"

"Right, get to it Mendez."

"Yes sir." he said, promptly marching off.

Chief checked the time on his HUD, "It's late," chief said, 'we won't be able to transport all of this tonight."

"I say we lock down the ship, get the teams to sleep, and start up again in the morning."

"I agree." Glynda said, appearing from behind Chief, "is there some place they can bed down? Or will they have to settle for benches?"

Chief ignored the hostility in her words and nodded, "Troops quarters are still intact." he stepped forward, "that's enough for tonight." he called, making them all stop, "we'll pick this up for tomorrow, Rose, Arc, pick out who you want to stand watch tonight, if the Fang already had a team here, there's no question that they'll send another one."

"Yes sir." Ruby mumbled, turning to talk to her team.

"I'll take first watch." jaune said instantly,

"Are you sure?" Pyrrha asked worriedly.

"Positive." jaune mumbled, walking towards the entrance.

"The rest of you get to bed, cortana should have sent you the directions to the troops quarters, if you feel the need to shower, locker rooms should be close by."

Everyone slowly filed out, "Ms. Goodwitch." he said, turning to the teacher, "you can take the Captains quarters."

'And where will you be sleeping?" Goodwitch asked.

"Nowhere, I'm not sleeping." he said, walking away from her and towards the direction that Jaune went. Leaving Glynda staring after him in shock.

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"What a hard ass." yang muttered as she collapsed on one of the bunks in the troops quarters, her, Nora and Weiss were all sitting on a respective bunk, waiting for their friends to get done showering.

"Yeah." Nora agreed, attempting to bounce on the mattresses, but found them too hard and stiff, "and what was with those orders? 'Shoot to kill'."

"He shouldn't have asked that." Weiss muttered, "especially of Ruby."

"And did you see Pyrrha's face?" Yang asked, "she's the one who took the shot, that's not-" she stopped as Pyrrha walked in, Ren and Blake right behind her.

"Hey P-money." Yang said gently, "how you holding up?"

"I'm...fine." she said, attempting to smile.

"No you're not." Blake said quietly, "you killed today...your first kill, that's not something you just...shrug off.'

Pyrrha sighed and sat down, "I was following orders…"

"That doesn't make it better Pyr.' Nora said.

"It was wrong of him to ask you to do that." Weiss muttered, "and to think, he was going to have ruby take the shot first."

"Perhaps he believed we've done this before?" Ren asked, slightly uncertain.

"Done what? Murder?"

"Been in a firefight actually." Cortana's voice said, making all of them jump as Cortana's Avatar appeared before them for the first time, making them back up, "we were under the impression you've done missions like this before;obviously we were misinformed."

"What would make you think we have ever done anything remotely like that?!" Weiss exclaimed, "we're Huntsmen and Huntresses! Not Murderers."

"So you're telling me a Huntsman has never had to fight with rogues?" Cortana asked, "Never had to take on a terrorist organization that was shooting to kill? I'm sorry, but with the information i've been given by Ozpin and yourselves, i have a very hard time Believing that." she looked at them, "your line of work is protecting the everyday average civilian from Grimm and people who wish to do them harm, bandits, terrorists, or maybe even an everyday joe with a gun. And yet you aren't prepared, or even in the belief that you may have to take a life one day? That is extremely arrogant."

"Well we didn't think we'd have to deal with anything like that this soon…" Yang started lamely.

"To be unprepared is to throw caution to the wind." Cortana said, "had this been a larger contingent of troops, then i doubt you would have been able to simply injure all of them, and if they had Aura, then you would have been hard pressed to pull your punches."

"He didn't have to act like it was nothing though." Blake said.

"The Master Chief has been going on missions since he was fourteen." Cortana said, "he's been fighting in a war against an alien species for most of his life, and has also fought against Insurrectionists at the same time. To him, killing IS nothing, it's a means to an end, a by product of the mission."

"Since he was fourteen?" Pyrrha asked in disbelief.

Cortana nodded, "he was a Spartan." she said, 'the best of the best, and the only one known to survive the war. So I believe it's in your best interest to trust him, at least to the end of this mission." with that she disappeared, leaving the teens to think about what she said.

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Jaune sat outside, sullenly staring at the grass, the vision of the white fang soldiers shocked face still going through his mind.

"I thought he was surrendering." he muttered as a growl alerted him to the presence of an approaching beowulf. He looked at the sniper rifle and battle rifle Chief had left out for him, he shook his head and drew his blade, walking down the slope towards the beowulf, expanding his shield and slamming it into the pouncing wolf's bone mask, shattering it, with a powerful swipe he tore a gash open on it's chest, and with another he sliced it clean in half from groin to head, he continued to bring his sword down on the slowly decaying body, letting out labored grunts as he did.

"Letting out some steam?" chief's calm voice asked, making Jaune turn around and quickly swing at the hulking Spartan, who caught the blade easily.

"Someones no longer hesitating." he said, throwing the blade to the side.

"What are you doing out here?" Jaune muttered, walking past Chief.

"Thought i'd check up on you." Chief said, following the young huntsman in training, "you looked stunned after that firefight."

Jaune looked away from him, "i'm fine…" he muttered.

"No your not." Chief said, "I can see your hands shaking, this your first combat op?"

"No." Jaune said quickly, "It's...it's the first one against humans though…"

"Was it the killing?" Chief asked.

Jaune shook his head, "I knew...that one day we would have to kill...I…" he bit his lips, "I...i thought he was surrendering…i really did...i saw the terror, and the fear in his eyes and I assumed he was surrendering….then he...he tried to…" he shook his head, "I made a decision, and it almost got me killed, what if Pyrrha had been with me? What if Nora or Ren had been? What would have happened to them? What if you hadn't been there? I'd be...i'd be dead right now…" he looked down, "all because I was an idiot."

"You made a mistake." Chief said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "So has every great leader that has ever been, you survived it, so you can either continue to bitch and moan about it, or you can learn from it.' he turned around and started walking back to the ship, "and also find a good ranged weapon, doesn't do you any good to get into a firefight when you don't have any fire."

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Chief walked into one of the ships dressing rooms, looking at several stacks of uniforms that no longer had owners.

"Chief?" Cortana asked, appearing in front of him.

"Do we have a storage unit Cortana?" he asked, looking down at the Marine BDU that still held Sergeant Johnson's name and rank, "For my Armor."

"Yes, there should be one...why?"

"When we get back to Beacon, i think it would be wise to retire the armor...until i'm needed for a mission."

"And i'm guessing you'll be wearing a dress uniform or BDU's while on post?"

"That's right."

"Well, i do believe your dress uniform is still in the plastic in Johnson's old Locker."

"Why is it in there?" he asked in confusion.

"He was going to make sure you wore it to the end of the war party he was planning." Cortana said in amusement, "he was dead set on seeing you in it.

Chief cracked a smile before nodding, "then it's settled." he picked up Johnson's bdu and carefully cut the last part of his name off, leaving 'John', he then tore off the sergeant major patches, sorting through the others until he found a pair fitting his rank.

"I recommend you wear that tomorrow."

"Excuse me?" Chief asked, "we're still in a combat situation, should the fang show up-"

"I'm not saying step out there in just your skivvies Chief, but the teams are unsettled by you, to them you're a machine, and if we're going to be staying here for a while longer, then we're going to have to put them at ease."

Chief hesitated, then shook his head, "maybe when we get back to Beacon, but for now i can't afford to let my combat effectiveness drop to put them at ease."

Cortana rolled her eyes, "It's your decision Chief." she said, winking out of existence.

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Ruby couldn't sleep, her jumbled thoughts just seemed to keep her from actually reaching that dream world she so desperately wanted to get to. So with a sigh she sat up and got out of her bunk, walking quietly out of the barracks and down the cold steel hallways, looking into the different rooms as she did, she stopped as she looked into a room where the EOD specialists were working, most were asleep, except for Mendez, who sat by a fairly large missile, slowly shearing wires, his armor was abandoned at his side, leaving him in combat pants and a tight white shirt,a pair of dark tinted goggles covered his eyes.

Ruby slowly backed away, intent on walking on until the man looked up, "oh, hey." he greeted, pulling the goggles up, "thought everyone was asleep."

"I...couldn't sleep." ruby said sheepishly.

"Same." he said, leaning back, "this ordnance has really peaked my curiosity...makes me sad to dismantle them."

"Why?"

"Because I like explosives." he said with a shrug, "something about the simplistic beauty of them...how a bit of wiring, some Comp-C and a detonator can create something so…" he trailed off, then smiled ruefully, "but you don't want to listen to me talk about bombs."

Ruby put her hands behind her back, "A-actually i think it's pretty cool that your so passionate about something." she said shyly, "i-it's like me with weapons."

"Like weapons do you?" he asked with a grin.

Ruby nodded vigorously, her eyes lighting up, "I just love the complex machinery and physics that go into making our weapons! I mean just take my own weapon for example! It mechashifts from a scythe to a high impact sniper rifle!"

"Really?" he asked, very impressed, "how'd you incorporate the shooting mechanism?"

"Could you two nerds pipe down!" one of the EOD guys groaned, turning over, "trying to sleep."

"Sorry." Ruby squeaked out while Mendez rolled his eyes, putting his wrench down.

"How about we go on a walk." Mendez suggested quietly, standing up and walking towards her, "I could use a break and I'm sure you need to take your mind of whatever it is you're thinking of."

"I'd like that." she said slowly stepping back into the hallway, the two started walking down the hallway,

"So...how'd you get that eye?"

"Oh man, i thought it was such a good idea at the time…"

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Glynda woke up to laughter just outside her quarters, "who on earth... " She grumbled as she stood and went to the door, hitting the button to open it up, her eyes narrowed when she found Ruby Rose with one of the Specialists, talking and laughing quietly beside one of the ships view ports, which revealed a starry sky, the two sat across from each other. Legs barely brushing each other.

"So then we took off running." Mendez chuckled, "and the Sergeant was chasing after us, slipping and sliding on the cream!"

"I can't believe you made a whipped cream bomb." Ruby giggled.

"Ms. Rose." Glynda said sternly, making the young girl jump slightly in her seat, "aren't you supposed to be asleep?"

"um...I couldn't sleep?" she said nervously.

"Be that as it may you shouldn't be lounging about in these halls!" Glynda checked her watch, "and it's five in the morning!"

"It was my fault ma'am." Mendez said, standing up at attention, "I suggested we go for a walk to get her mind off things, I guess we lost track of time."

She narrowed her eyes at them, "get back to the Barracks Ms. Rose, and you get back to your Squad Specialist Mendez."

"Yes ma'am." Mendez said and the two quickly left.

Glynda ran a frustrated hand through her hair and turned around to walk back into her quarters, "Children." she said in exasperation.

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The next morning the ship was woken up by a loud alarm, making everyone stumble out of their bunks, grabbing their weapons as Chief ran through, "Who triggered the alarm?" he demanded.

"Weiss was on the last shift." Jaune said blearily, pulling his sword out as they ran towards the entrance a second before it practically exploded and Weiss they all shielded their eyes except for Chief, who raised his rifle, ready to pull the trigger as Weiss stumbled down the hall.

"White fang." she said breathlessly, leaning against the wall, trying to dust some soot off her combat skirt.

"Valkyrie," Chief started, only for Nora to run forward and started firing round after round out the entrance. "Everyone, grab what you can and get it to the vehicle bay, we'll get as much out as we can, Schnee, what's their numbers look like?"

"It's like a small army." Weiss said, "they have Aura, heavy weapons...I-I think i saw an Atlesian paladin."

Chief grimaced as Glynda walked forward, "if there's that many we may not get all the supplies back to beacon." she said.

Chief nodded, then turned on his radio, "Arc, Rose, there's a vehicle in the bay, get supplies in there, provisions take priority, Xiao-Long, I want you and Belladonna to get out through one of the other service hatches, hit their flank and use hit and run tactics to keep them confused, Nikos, get to the top of the ship, sniper position, Ren, Valkyrie, hold this entrance, Schnee help them, Mark."

"Sync." they chorused as Chief switched to another frequency, "Echo 419, come in."

" _This is Echo 419, what do ya got Chief?"_

"We're getting hit hard, need air support and immediate Evac stat."

 _Roger that Chief, on my way._

Chief started striding through the ship as Mendez and his men ran out. "Chief!" Mendez shouted, "what's going on?"

"White Fang," Chief said, "too many to hold off effectively for long."

"Shit...we're not done with that ordnance."

"What's left?"

"Three bunker-busters, and four Air-to-air missiles."

"Cortana," chief called, making the woman appear.

"Yeah chief?"

"What's the status of the ships defenses?"

"Down, and we don't have enough power to get them back online, and the main hatch is damaged, so it won't close…soon as we leave they'll be able to get at whatever we leave behind."

Chief sighed, "mendez, can you rig those missiles to blow on a remote detonator?"

Mendez slowly started to grin, "give me fifteen minutes."

"You have ten." Chief said as the EOD guys took off running once more.

"We're blowing the Dawn?" Cortana asked worriedly, "but chief-"

"It's just a ship cortana." Chief said, "and it's carrying tech and ordnance that these terrorists will use...we have no choice…"

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"So do I." Chief said, getting back on his radio. "Everyone get ready, once the bullheads are here we'll get what we can loaded up, rations take priority, anything left will be destroyed along with the ship, Mark?"

"Sync."

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Adam taurus glared at the decrepit frigate in front of him as his white fang soldiers assaulted the entrance, "I want what's in that ship." he growled out, "and i want whoever's in there dead."

"We're encountering a lot of resistance." his lieutenant said, "those damn grenades are-" he stopped as one exploded nearby, most of the White Fang ducked down at the explosion, "they're causing a problem." he finished, glaring at the ship as he heard a far off cackle.

"Is there another way in?"

"Any openings in the hull are full of debris, so far, the only way in is that entrance."

"Then we need to take it soon before-" he stopped as they were suddenly assaulted from the back by shotgun blasts and hand gun fire. "Take cover!" Adam shouted as they all rolled out of the way, Adam's eyes scanned the tree line, trying to find where the shots came from.

"They're over there!" one of the grunts shouted a split second before a dust round tore through his shoulder, sending him to the ground with a cry of pain.

"Sniper!" the lieutenant shouted, tackling Adam to the ground as another round slammed into the ground, narrowly missing the bull faunus.

"Find out where those shots are coming from!" Adam snarled as another part of their group was hit by the same shotgun blasts from before, "and find whoevers attacking us from the woods and kill them! Send in the paladin!"

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Chief ran into the vehicle bay, almost bowling over Jaune as he did.

"By Oum!" Jaune yelped as he weaved around Chief, "you almost gave me a heart attack!"

"How's load up coming?" Chief asked, walking further into the bay, Jaune following.

"We got all the provisions as well as most of the weaponry." Jaune said, "we also found another vehicle that we loaded up, engines shot, but Ruby's working on it now."

Chief looked over to where another Warthog sat, a troop carrier, the back stacked high with crates of ammo; and sticking out underneath the tusks were the booted feet of Ruby.

"Almost...got it!" Ruby shouted confidently as she crawled out and jumped into the driver's seat, hitting a button and making it splutter to life.

"Good job Rose." Chief said, walking over, "do you know how to drive?"

"A little." she said sheepishly, "kinda used to take dads truck out when I could, usually when he wasn't home and-"

"All I need to know is if you can drive." he said, cutting her off.

"Yes I can." she mumbled.

"Then you're driving that transport." he said, looking to Jaune, "how do you feel driving?"

"I feel good." Jaune said.

"Good, you'll be with me in the warthog, I'll be operating the gun." he said, turning on his radio, "Nikos, get down and come to the vehicle bay, Schnee, Valkyrie, Ren, fall back, but don't give too much ground, don't need to tip them off."

 _"Got it."_

"Mendez, talk to me."

" _We're ready down here Chief, those Fang Fuckers are gonna have a blast."_

"Roger that, get you and your men up here on the double."

" _Ten-four chief, we're moving."_

Chief switched Frequencies, "Sierra-117 to Echo 419, Foehammer, you copy?"

 _I copy chief, Go ahead?"_

"We have two vehicles ready for evac, what's your ETA?"

" _ETA to the LZ is three Mikes, magnetic clamps ready to pick up your gear. There's a lot of Flak out there chief, you got a plan for that?"_

"Definitely," he said, looking at the gatling gun, "Everyone, fall back to the vehicle bay, Xiao-Long, Belladonna, as soon as the bay doors open you two book it back, as soon as you're in we'll be gone."

" _What about the Fang?"_ Yang asked, " _they won't just let us leave."_

"You let me worry about that," he said as he climbed onto the back of the warthog, Glynda getting into the passenger seat as the EOD troops came running in.

"Shot gun!" Mendez shouted, jumping into the seat beside beside Ruby, "hey Rose." he said with a grin.

"Hi." she said shyly as his men started climbing into the back, sitting haphazardly on the supplies.

"Incoming!" Weiss shouted as she and Ren ran in, Nora was still firing rounds into the hallway. Both of them jumped into the back of Chief's warthog while Nora dove onto Ruby's.

"Cortana, now!" Chief shouted, instantly the bay doors blasted open, "Arc, step on it."

With a roar, the warthog shot forward, flying out of the vehicle bay, as soon as Jaune cleared the entryway, Chief started firing, 12.7x99 mm rounds tearing into tree line, splintering wood and turning any unlucky white fang grunt who didn't get to cover into mush. "Stop in the center of the field!" Chief shouted to Jaune, who slammed on the brakes as they got there.

"RUN!" Yang shouted as they burst back into the clearing, the sound of trees shattering filled the air.

"Is that a…" Jaune stared as the treeline burst.

"PALADIN!" Mendez shouted, "Everyone down!"

"Nora take the gun!" Chief commanded, jumping off the warthog and running straight for the paladin, "Get to the warthogs!" he said to Yang and Blake "i'll take care of the Paladin."

"You'll what!" Weiss yelped as Chief ran forward, putting his rifle on the back, the paladin quickly zeroed in on him, firing it's weapons, Chief slid underneath the oncoming fire, his shield sparking and crackling as a few rounds bounced off of it, he rolled to his feet and jumping over a rocket, he punched down on the tail end of it, sending it careening into the sky, detonating harmlessly as he dove between the paladins legs, with a powerful jump he landed on it's back, with his fist curled he started punching the back armor as the paladin started spinning, trying to dislodge him, soon he shattered the armor plating, revealing the inner mechanisms, "this looks expensive." he muttered, pulling a grenade out.

" _You think they have insurance?"_ Cortana asked in amusement.

"Probably not." he said, priming the grenade and shoving it into the opening before jumping off, he rolled across the field, landing a few feet from where Blake and yang had stopped to watch him. He stood up just as the Paladin exploded, sending shrapnel flying through the air, Blake and Yang flinched while Chief simply started running back to the warthog.

"Xiao-long! Belladonna! Move!" Chief shouted, and instantly the two started running once more.

"Chief, that was bad ass!" Yang cheered as they neared the warthog, ducking as dust rounds landed all around them, the white fang moving in;enraged that they had lost their paladin so easily.

Chief said nothing to acknowledge what Yang had said as he jumped onto the back of the warthog, Nora quick to let him take control of the turret "grab on to the warthogs!" Chief commanded the two girls, who instantly latched onto the sides.

"Incoming!" Mendez shouted as Foehammer flew down from the sky, gatling guns going off as she strafed the white fang position, two other bullheads hovered over the warthogs, with a buzz, the magnetic clamps took ahold of the two vehicles, slowly lifting off with Foehammer behind them.

"Well that was fun." Yang said cheerfully as she pulled herself into the back of the warthog, looking over the side as they flew away from the ship.

"Mendez," chief said into the comms, "blow it."

"Ten-four."

Within seconds an explosion ripped through the air, the shockwave making the bullheads swerve and pitch in an attempt to regain control.

"By the Brothers!" Mendez shouted, standing up in his seat to look back at the mushroom cloud forming from the explosion,his voice and expression full of uncontained glee, "and that was only with six!"

Chief looked back at the crater that was once the _Forward Unto Dawn,_ a small ache creeping into his chest, "cortana…" he said quietly, "alert Ozpin, let him know we're returning, ETA 15 minutes, mission is complete, no casualties."

"On it."

Chief looked down at yang and the others, "good job," he said, "you all did a commendable work out there."

"It's what we do." yang said cockily, laughing when Blake nudged her good naturedly.

"That was awesome!" Nora exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air. "Did you guys see that explosion!? I couldn't do any better myself!"

Chief settled against the gatling gun as the children started talking about the highlights of the mission, he mostly tuned them out until the bullheads came in for a landing at Beacon. Dropping the warthogs on the grassy field just shy of the landing pad before flying off.

" _Good working with ya Chief, hope to do it again sometime."_

"Thanks for the lift Foehammer, stay frosty." Chief responded as he jumped off of the warthog.

"Well, it looks like you all had a fun time." Ozpin said as he walked up to them, several other students walking over, "is this everything Master Chief?"

"Everything we could get out." Chief responded, "weapons, ammo, MRE's, couple of generators...everything else was destroyed."

"Yes, we saw, and felt, the explosion when you set it off." Ozpin said, taking a sip of his coffee. "I'd like to hear all that happened today...but not right now, right now you should all take some time to eat, rest, and relax. I will make time to hear what all of you have to say." with that he turned around, walking back towards the school.

"Good work today children." Glynda said, turning to the two teams while the other students started unloading the crates, "Despite the...complications, you all managed to pull through." she turned her gaze over to Master Chief, who was unloading his weapons, "that will be all for now." she dismissed them.

"How much you wanna bet she's gonna try and kick his ass?" Yang whispered to the group as they started walking back to the school.

"I got fifteen bucks she throws him across the school." Nora said.

"Ten says she can't lift him." Jaune muttered.

Glynda walked up to the chief. "Master Chief." she started.

"Yes Professor?" he asked as he put his weapons up.

"Professor Ozpin has assigned you a room in the Teachers Wing of the school, if you need directions-"

"Cortana's got it." Chief said, "there anything else?"

Glynda sighed, "I believe, that if we are to be working alongside each other, then we need to get rid of any animosity we feel towards each other."

"I feel no animosity towards you ma'am." he said, turning to her, he reached up and pulled his helmet off, strict blue eyes looking into stern green ones, "whatever differences we have can be settled at a later date, and until then I will be as courteous to you as your station demands, and i would hope you'd do the same."

Glynda stared at him for a while, until her eyes softened a bit, "that seems doable." she conceded, giving him a small smile, "have a good night Master Chief."

"Same to you Professor Goodwitch." he said, watching as the professor walked away, ushering a couple of curious students away with a stern glare. He put his helmet back on and turned back to the Warthogs, pleasantly surprised to find most of the cargo gone, slowly being carried to be stored in the Weaponsmith's classroom, all that was left was the few cases that held his uniforms

"You know, she's not too bad a person." Cortana said to chief as he got into the Warthog.

"I don't disagree." he said as he turned the warthog on and started driving towards the Teachers quarters, "but if she's going to be judging every move I make then it's going to be a long stay."

"Do you still think we can be found?" Cortana asked.

"Do we still have the beacon going?" Chief asked.

"No, that tower of there's doesn't have the proper range to send a beacon off world, if the Dawn was still in one piece we could've maybe rigged something, but you decided to blow it up."

"Is there a chance it was received beforehand?" Chief asked.

"Possible, but there's too many variables to say for certain chief.'

"Then we cross our fingers, and when a ship finds us, which they will eventually, we hitch a ride back."

"If you say so Chief, lets just hope our stint here is quieter than we usually have to deal with.

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Ozpin sat in his office, carefully reading the After Action Report that Chief had supplied him, the video feed from his helmet cam also supplied, "hmm…." he looked to Glynda, "well he certainly puts a new spin on things doesn't he?"

"A dangerous one." she said, "I mean...just ordering them to shoot to kill?"

"Ironwood would have ordered the same." he pointed out, "they will be huntsmen after all...and huntsmen do tend to run into human opponents."

"That doesn't mean they have to kill this early."

"While I agree Glynda you have to admit; there wasn't much choice." he stood up, slowly walking to the window and looking out, watching his students walk about the campus, "the white fang there would have definitely fought back, and they wouldn't have surrendered until after a lengthy fight, during which they could have easily called for backup while fending off our students from a fairly defensible position."

"It still doesn't sit right with me." Glynda muttered, "and now you want him to teach here."

"There's a chance he can teach us much, especially about those warthogs, they don't seem to run on dust."

"I doubt he would tell us anything about his technology." Glynda huffed, "he wouldn't even talk about prior battle experience with the children, much less his technology."

"I'm sure he'd be willing to talk with us once we start building trust, which is the next point i wanted to talk to you about." he turned back around and walked towards his old friend, "one of the classes I wish for him to take part of, is your combat class, it's obvious he utilizes fighting styles we've never seen before, so it would do good for the students to watch and learn."

Glynda hesitated, "if that's what you think is best Ozpin." she said carefully.

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Adam looked over the gaping crater that was once the Forward Unto Dawn, behind him, dozens of White Fang grunts were tending their injured and covering their dead with tarps, "How many did we lose Banesaw?" Adam asked quietly.

'Too many," the large man muttered, "barely a third survived the explosion, and most of them are injured…"

"Who was that man?"

"That's a good question…"

"Find out," Adam growled, "find out, and when you do, kill him."

"Huh...how do you kill a demon?"


	3. Professor Chief

Chief stood alone inside the elevator, watching the numbers slowly change as they brought him closer to Ozpin's office, "Cortana, do you read?" he asked.

" _Here Chief,"_ came the slightly garbled response from the earpiece in his left ear, " _how's the reception._

"Good, a little garbled but we can work through that."

 _"Like always, how you liking the Dress whites?"_

Chief looked at himself in the reflected surface of the elevator door, staring at the white uniform, the gold buttons glinting softly under the light, then looked at the Bernard cap in his hand, "feels strange." he muttered, "after so long...but it's comfortable, and it's good to get my hair back into regulation."

 _"I'll say, you were starting to look scruffy."_

Chief rolled his eyes as the doors opened and he walked out into the office, where Ozpin, Glynda, and an unknown man stood, talking quietly amongst themselves, "Professor Ozpin." Chief said, catching their attention as he stopped in front of the desk, "i'm here as requested."

"Ah, Master Chief." Ozpin said with a smile, "I almost didn't recognize you, how have you adjusted?"

"No complaints sir." he said, staring straight ahead at attention.

"Relax Chief," Ozpin said in amusement, "you're among friends here."

"Of course sir," Chief said, his posture relaxing just slightly.

"Huh." The man by the desk grumbled, running a hand through his hair, 'Military stiffs."

"Master Chief, this is Qrow Branwen," Ozpin said, "a talented huntsman and a trusted friend, he will be one of the huntsmen I'll be pairing you with anytime you go on a mission."

"Pleasure to meet you." Chief said, giving Qrow a nod.

"Yeah, likewise." Qrow muttered, taking a swig from a flask.

"Now chief, I take it you went down to the smithy?"

"Yes," Chief said, turning his attention back to Ozpin, "Jora is currently housing all the munitions in a safe, of which, only myself and Cortana know the combination."

"Excellent," he said, "Now, about your status as a teacher, it's come to my attention that we don't have a class in need of a teacher, since this is the case, we have decided to create an elective class; however, what you are able to teach is the main concern at this moment." he leaned forward, "tell me Chief, what would you be able to teach our students that would provide them an edge out in the field."

"I'm proficient in weapons," he said, "military tactics and leadership, vehicles, survival, combat."

"Can he cook too." Qrow drawled.

"Qrow," Glynda started warningly.

"If the situation calls for it, yes." Chief said, not even looking at Qrow. "I was taught to survive anything and everything, no matter the situation."

"I believe the Military tactics and leadership will be the best for you, for now." Ozpin said, "many of our team leaders haven't been able to step into their rolls as leaders, and others tactics on the battlefield are...questionable at best...if you could train them differently, perhaps survival rates for huntsmen will be better."

"I'll do the best I can."

"I would also like for you to work with Professor Goodwitch in her combat class, perhaps you can show the students a new way of fighting."

Chief looked hesitant for a few moments, before nodding carefully. "Yes sir, I can help out."

"Excellent." Ozpin said, leaning back, "the last thing we need to do is activate your aura."

"That won't be necessary." Chief said, waving off Goodwitch as she stepped forward.

"Master Chief, Aura will add additional protection to you, possibly to the point where you won't need your armor."

"Even without my armor, i can take care of myself." Chief said firmly, "i won't be needing any 'aura'."

"If...that is what you think is best." Ozpin said carefully as Goodwitch stared at both of them in shock.

"Ozpin, you can't possibly think that he should be allowed to go out into life threatening situations without aura!"

"He's done it already Glynda." Ozpin said, looking to the chief, "this meeting is over Chief, you'll have the rest of the weekend to come up with a lesson plan."

"Yes sir," Chief said, nodding to him before turning about and walking towards the elevator.

Qrow sighed and stood up from his perch, "I'll catch a ride down with you." he muttered, striding towards the elevator, hands in his pockets.

Chief just nodded to him and held the door open as Qrow stepped in; he then stepped inside and let the doors slide shut, quietly pressing the button for the ground floor.

"So...you're the spaceman my nieces were talking about." Qrow said as he pulled his flask, taking a sip from it, then offering it to John, who shook his head.

"I don't drink." he said simply.

Qrow shrugged and took another gulp, "heard they got a big dose of reality out there." he muttered, "heard you gave the command, shoot to kill."

"That I did." Chief said, looking at him once more, "and who are your nieces?"

"Ruby and yang." he said, "Ruby was shaken up about it...for all of fifteen seconds."

"They need to learn that they'll have to kill one day." Chief muttered.

"Oh I agree...but maybe give them a warning before hand, they're only first years." Qrow sighed, "yeah, toughest part of the job...learning you might have to kill someone…" he looked at Chief, "of course, you know all about that, don't ya big chief?"

Chief said nothing, just continued to stare ahead.

Qrow scratched his jaw, "look, if we're gonna be paired on missions later on, you're gonna have to start talking more."

"We're not on a mission, are we?" chief asked, making Qrow blink, then chuckle.

"Yeah, guess you're right...all the same, we should at least be somewhat familiar, at least then i'll know what to put on your tombstone when you die."

"Spartans don't die," Chief said, his voice slightly bitter, "they're just missing in action."

Qrow looked at him in surprise, then nodded slightly, "I understand that...well, if you're interested, I'll be at the Crow Bar for most of this week, you need to talk or somethin'..."

"The gesture is appreciated." Chief said simply as the door opened and the two stepped out.

"Welp, see ya around Big Chief," Qrow drawled, walking away, his hands in his pockets.

" _I like him."_ Cortana piped up.

"Of course you would." he said as he stepped out of the tower, looking around the campus as he went, analysing every building and out-cropping, his eyes moving suspiciously from one person to the next, "let's check out the classroom."

" _Security assessment already? You work fast."_

Chief gave a grunt as he walked into the main building, ignoring the whisperings of the students around him.

"I hear he killed an entire battalion of white fang with his bare-hands-"

"-they say he fell from the sky-"

"-atlesian special forces, gotta be-"

"-Xiao-Long says he took down a paladin on his own, a PALADIN-"

" _Sounds like you're popular."_

"More than I wanted to be." Chief said, entering the classroom, looking around the simple room with large floor to ceiling windows on his right, and four rows of desks, all on raised platforms, "this will be uncomfortable."

" _What? Don't like giving up the high ground?"_

"Don't like being the center of attention…" he scratched his jaw, "think we can rearrange everything?"

" _In two days? No."_

"Hmph, well...lets start putting together a lesson plan."

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Two Days Later

Jaune nervously walked down the hall towards room 343, followed by several other team leaders.

"So Arc," Coco started, walking up to the blond haired leader, " What can you tell us about this new teacher?"

"You went on a mission with him, right?" another asked.

"Y-yeah, he's...intense." Jaune said, flashing back to the start of the mission

" _Don't hesitate."_

Jaune shook his head, "he's not a normal Huntsman." Jaune muttered as they walked into the classroom and took their seats, "he's...effective."

"Effective?" Cardin scoffed, "what does that even mean Arc."

"It means he's no push over." Coco interjected, looking at Jaune, "What was the mission?"

"The Mission;" Chief's voice rang out, making everyone jump and look to the door, where the serious faced man was slowly walking in just as the bell rang, dressed in iron gray BDU's that were starched and pressed neatly, chevrons and name tapes placed perfectly, black boots polished to a high, glossy shine. There was a heavy nylon belt wrapped around his hips, housing a sidearm and extra magazines,"Was a simple recovery mission, that took a turn for the worst." he closed the door with a loud bang! Making most everyone jump as he made his way to the teachers desk, he put his hands behind his back and looked at them all, "I, am Master Chief Petty Officer John 117, you will refer to me as the Master Chief, or Chief, I am here to show you how to be effective leaders, as well as teach you Military Tactics." he looked around, "listen to me and follow my commands and you will be effective leaders both on and off the battlefield, loaf around and do things half-assed and I will personally drop kick your ass out of this class." he walked up to the blackboard, picking up a piece of chalk, writing out Leadership at the top.

"By definition, Leadership is the ability to influence, lead or guide others so as to accomplish a mission in the manner desired by providing them with a purpose, Direction, and Motivation, if you do not give these three things, then the mission will fail, who can tell me why?" he looked around, then motioned to Coco, "you, stand up."

"Excuse m-"

"Now."

Coco blinked and stood.

"State your name."

"Coco Adel."

"Ms. Adel, Tell me why Purpose, Direction, and Motivation is essential to Leadership."

"Well, we need Purpose because it explains why we're doing the mission, Direction tells us how to do it, and Motivation gives us a reason to do it."

"Exactly, you may sit." he looked at them all, "Purpose and Direction are fairly straight forward, it's given to you before hand in mission briefings, but what about Motivation? Why is motivation so important?"

"Because if we don't motivate our team then there's a chance the mission won't be successful." a third year piped up.

"Exactly, but why? You're Hunters, it's your job to get the mission done wouldn't that be enough motivation?"

"Because sometimes that's not enough," Jaune said, making most everyone look at him, "I-I mean, what if the mission was to take on an entire Grimm horde with just three other huntsmen? Some might not think a paycheck is worth it."

"Hmph, of course you'd say that, coward." Cardin sneered.

"He's right," Chief said, making everyone look back to him, "let me tell you a story, about a place called Stalingrad, it was a city that was laid seige to by a massive army many generations ago; during one of the bloodiest wars in human history, the Third Reich, the invading army, believed it was they're right to rule the world, and the Red Army, the defending army, was told to hold Stalingrad at all costs, their purpose was to stop the third reich advance, the Direction was to dig in, and not take a step back, can anyone tell me what their Motivation was?"

"To...serve their country?" someone asked.

"For a few maybe, but what about those who saw the odds, and realized that there was a small chance of them winning the battle? Surely they didn't think a paycheck was worth dying in the cold, with little to no ammo food, or even a rifle, so what motivated them?" he looked around, "No one want to guess? Well then let me tell you; their motivation to go and fight, was that if they were to fall back, then their superiors would put a bullet in their head."

The entire class gasped, staring at Chief in shock.

'Not one step back," he said, "Cowards and Traitors will be shot, one man grabs rifle, another gets bullets, when the man with the rifle dies, the man with the bullets picks the rifle up and continues firing." he looked around, "Not one step back. that was their motivation to complete the mission, and while it won the battle, it cost the lives of over a million men, many of whom were killed by their own superiors."

"Then why did they sign up? If they knew that was happening?"

"They signed up because they didn't know, because in the Red Army you got food and boots, and some of them didn't even have a choice, they were pulled out of towns and villages and thrown into a uniform and told to go die for their country." he looked around, "forcing someone to fight in a battle they don't want to be in could effectively get you and your team killed." he moved over to the black board once more, putting his hands behind his back, "as leaders you are not there to Force your team to complete the mission, you are there to motivate them, and give them a good reason for doing what we're doing, for some saying we are going to stop a Grimm Horde from destroying this town is enough, for others they need more personal reasons. And it is your job as leaders to figure it out, to know your troops and work with them to get the best goals." he walked to the board, and began writing, "To be an effective leader, you must be able to use Leadership Traits, which are easily learned and understood through this acronym." he stepped to the side to show them.

JJ DID TIEBUCKLE

"Who here wants to guess the words that make up this acronym?"

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The class gathered up their notes as the bell rang.

"We will be having a test over the Leadership Traits tomorrow at the beginning of class, and will cover the Leadership Principles after."

"That was...interesting." Coco muttered as they walked out.

"Dudes intense," another leader said as he looked over the notes, "you think that battle he talked about was true?"

"No way," cardin interjected, "guy probably made it up to cover Jauney boys ass."

"Doesn't seem like one to lie." Coco pointed out, "what do you think Jaune?"

"I think he was being truthful." Jaune said.

"Of course you would." Cardin muttered, pushing past him.

"Whether he's a liar or not, I get the feeling this class will be interesting...to say the least."

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Chief walked into the teachers lounge at the end of the day, going straight to the coffee machine.

" _Someones stressed."_ Cortana said in his earpiece.

"Teenagers tend to produce that result." Chief muttered, taking a sip of the pitch black coffee.

"Good evening Master Chief!" a quick, energetic voice said, making Chief turn around quickly and draw his sidearm, pointing it straight at a green haired professor, who didn't even flinch at the sight of the gun.

"Very sorry! I have a tendency to forget that seasoned huntsmen do not like it when someone sneaks up on them."

Chief stared at the weird, obviously caffeinated man for a few moments before holstering his weapon, "no worries," he said, "I should be the one apologizing-"

"-no worries! No worries at all good man!" he interjected holding his hand out, "I'm Doctor Oobleck, I teach the History of remnant here."

"Good to meet you, Master Chief Petty Officer John 117."

"Ecstatic to meet you!" Oobleck said excitedly, "I've been getting many questions about the battle you spoke of in your class, and I have to say I am very interested in knowing more about your worlds history!"

"You're better off asking Cortana for all of it, I only remember Military history, and even then I only remember certain aspects."

"And who, might I ask, is Cortana?" Oobleck asked inquisitively.

Chief pulled his scroll out and put it on the table, almost instantly, a hologram version of Cortana appeared.

"Good evening Doctor," Cortana greeted.

"AMAZING!"

Instantly Dr. Oobleck launched into a speech about the wonders of technology and questioning how she came about and just what exactly she was, Chief tuned him out for the most part, as Cortana was patiently answering questions.

"And what is going on in here!" Professor Port boomed as he and professor Peach entered the lounge, "already questioning the new professor I see! Couldn't even wait for us!"

""On the contrary, the master chief is very tight lipped, his AI Construct Cortana is much more forthcoming but is likewise unwilling to explain key facts and details." Oobleck said at a rapid fire pace, slowly moving over to Professor Peach.

"I can respect that." Port said, walking up to the Chief, "so a military man? I've fought alongside many a fine officer in my time, why i remember once in Vacuo, I found myself entrenched in a sand pit with a platoon of Atlas's finest, trapped in bitter battle against an entire horde of Grimm! It was only my third year out of Beacon and me and my team, BGPP, engaged in heavy warfare with the vile vermin with the support of the fine men of Atlas, we prevailed, I myself broke the enemy line and slaughtered over three hundred Ursai on my own! Ah! But where are my manners! Professor Peter Port, at your service." he held a hand out and Chief looked the portly man over before shaking his hand.

"Last time it was two hundred." Peach muttered Dryly, making Chief look over to her, she was relatively young, mid to late twenties if he had to guess, with curly, auburn hair and blue eyes, she was a very small woman, barely clearing 5'0", but her posture and demeanor held a no nonsense attitude that Chief had seen in many drill sergeants. "Professor Rebecca Peach," she siad, stepping forward, holding her hand out, "it's good to finally meet you Master Chief."

Chief shook her hand, "likewise." he picked up his scroll and put it back in his pocket, "it was good meeting all of you."

"Where are you going?" Port asked as Chief headed for the door, "will you not stick around and regale us with tales of your exploits among the stars?"

"Most are classified." Chief said, turning to look at them.

"So tell us the ones that aren't." Oobleck said eagerly, leaning forward.

"I'd rather not." Chief muttered.

"It couldn't hurt to say just one story." Peach joined in, putting an arm around Oobleck.

"If he doesn't want to talk, he doesn't want to talk." The stern voice of Professor Goodwitch said, making all three professors jump and look behind the large figure of Chief to look at Glynda, who was glaring at them, "not all stories are easily told, you all should know that."

The three professors slowly looked down in slight shame.

"Thank you professor Goodwitch." Chief said, walking past her, Glynda followed him.

"I've been meaning to speak with you chief, about helping in the combat class."

"Of course," Chief said, "anytime you feel that I should come in, depending on the schedules, I'll be sure to be there, and while I'm there I suggest we focus primarily on hand to hand combat, many of the students rely to heavily on their weapons, which for students like Xiao-Long and Lie Ren is alright, but for a fighter like Ruby, she's at a disadvantage if you disarm her."

"I agree…but there's a problem, many of the students won't take instruction in hand to hand because they don't think they'll need it." Glynda said, stopping at the exit to the quad, Chief stopped right beside her and put his hands behind his back, looking out into the sunny concrete courtyard, "how do you propose we get them interested."

"Would probably be a good idea to set up a match between yourself and a student who primarily uses their weapon, and have them not use it."

"It would be dangerous but-" she stopped as she heard a cry of pain, then laughing. "Not again." she growled out, walking past Chief and across the courtyard, where a group of boys were snickering and laughing at something on the ground. Chief narrowed his eyes and followed.

"What is going on here!?" Glynda demanded as she got closer, making the four spring away from each other, revealing a deer antlered Faunus, missing one of her antlers and sobbing.

"Uh...we were just helping our buddy!" one said nervously.

"Yeah! She fell and we were helping her up."

"What Sky and Dove said!"

"And what do you say Mr. Winchester?" Chief asked, stepping up beside Glynda and glaring at Cardin, who simply sneered at the larger man.

"The freak tripped, what can I say?"

"Watch your mouth." chief growled, making all four students flinch slightly, "what were you really doing?"

The four teens stared at each other, then looked away.

"We don't answer to you." Cardin said boldly.

"You most certainly do answer to him!" Professor Goodwitch said sternly, "and you also answer to me."

Chief pushed past Cardin and knelt down by the Faunus, "are you alright?" he asked softly.

She nodded slightly, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

Chief held a hand out and gently helped her to her feet, "go with Professor Goodwitch," he said. " I'll take care of this."

"Chief-" Glynda started.

"See to it that she's taken care of." Chief said, turning his gaze upon team CRDL, "I'll handle them."

Glynda hesitated, then nodded, "come along, we'll get you fixed up."

Chief continued to glare at the four until Glynda was gone, "empty your bags." Chief said.

Now they looked really nervous, Russell, Dove and Sky were staring at each other worriedly, but cardin stepped forward, "we don't need to listen to you, you're not in charge of us."

Chief narrowed his eyes, 'Either you empty your bags," he started coldly, walking forward until he was towering over Cardin, "or I'll empty them for you."

"You think you can old man!?" Cardin sneered, clenching his fist and swinging at Chief, chief caught his fist and then bent it backwards, making Cardin groan in pain as he was forced to his knees.

"I know I can." Chief him back and making him tumble to the ground, "i won't ask again, EMPTY YOUR BAGS."

Instantly the other three upturned their bags, spilling books, paper, and pencils out on the ground. Chief strode over to Cardin's bag and upturned it, similar things fell out, but something else came clattering onto the cobblestone ground.

Chief picked up the broken antler and studied it for a few seconds, rage building inside of him.

 _Chief, calm down._

"And where did you get this Winchester?" chief asked, straightening up and looking at the bully.

Cardin said nothing, just glared at the ground.

Chief stared at all of them, "Tomorrow morning, you will all report to the East Fields, 0500 sharp, full training gear, if you're late then I will personally find you and drag you to the fields."

"W-what will we be doing?" Dove asked.

Chief turned to him, "whatever I tell you to do." he said, "tomorrow, 0500, report for punishment platoon, understood?"

Three heads nod, one did not.

"Winchester, if you don't show up, I'll be informing Goodwitch, and believe me when I say her punishment will probably be worse than mine."

Winchester growled what sounded like a 'whatever' before he got back up and left with his team, all three hurriedly picking up their things as well as his before running after him.

" _I thought you were going to kill him."_

"I still might." he muttered, turning on his heel and walking back towards the building, "thousands of years of evolution and humans still treat everyone different then they are like dirt."

" _It's no wonder the White Fang have so many willing recruits, if even a fraction of humans are acting like Winchester, then I'd want to join an organization like that too."_

Chief said nothing as he made his way to the infirmary, where he found Glynda talking with the on campus medic, both were standing a little bit away from the bed of the deer Faunus, who was curled up against the metal headboard, staring sightlessly ahead. One hand would come up every now and again to rub the spot where her antler had once been.

"What's the verdict Doc?" Chief asked, walking up to Glynda and the medic.

"It's Dufresne, and she's fine, a little shaken up, and missing an antler, but other then that, fine." he looked over to the girl, "she has a rough time of it around here, I think i've seen her here more than any fourth year student on campus."

Chief nodded, then slowly moved towards her, "how are you holding up?" He asked.

She jumped slightly, "fine…"she mumbled, "Just...tired…"

"There's no shame in telling the truth." he said lightly.

She looked down, then sighed, "I just...it's almost every day that I get crap from those jerks...they hit me, call me names...destroy my homework...but...today they went too far…"

"Why did they take your antler?" Chief asked.

"They...they wanted to see if it was true that my antlers grow back…"

"Cowards," Chief said, "using a flimsy excuse like that to gang up on someone." he slowly raised the antler and put it on her bed.

"Can't exactly re-attach it." she mumbled, "and they do grow back."

"Then do with it what you will, but I wasn't going to let Winchester keep it as a trophy;" he looked at her, "don't let them use what makes you unique and special against you. Take what you have and make it work for you."

She slowly picked it up and stared at it. Then she reached up and grasped her other antler, and with a grunt of pain broke it off.

"Ms. Greene!" Dufresne exclaimed, quickly running over to check on her.

"I need to see Jora…" she muttered, "I have a few ideas for new weapons."

"Not what I would have suggested, but I like your gumption kid." Chief said, straightening up and turning to walk out of the infirmary.

"What was your decision with Team CRDL?" Professor Goodwitch asked, following chief.

"They will be reporting to the East Fields tomorrow morning for Punishment platoon." Chief said, heading towards the direction of the teachers quarters.

"And what will you be doing in this Punishment Platoon?" she questioned.

He looked back at her and gave her a smile, this was one of the first times she ever saw him smile, and it came off slightly cruel, "I'm going to throw them a pizza party."


	4. combat practice

It came as no surprise to anyone the next day when Chief had to storm into the students dorm at five in the morning to kick open team CRDL's door, those who were in the same corridor were also immediately woken up at the no nonsense, rough and angry shouting of the imposing soldier, many poked their heads out their doors to watch him literally drag the four boys out of their beds before proceeding to figuratively and literally tear up their room, turning over mattresses and throwing clothes and armor out the window.

"GET UP AND RUN! GO GET YOUR ARMOR ON!" Chief commanded, his voice leaving no room for argument or mercy to the four very confused and still half asleep boys, who quickly took off running, still clad in night shirts(and in Dove's case, underwear) chief ran after them, keeping pace with them and spewing abuse at them the entire way.

"What the fuck was that all about?" Coco Adel asked, ignoring Velvets comment of 'language' as she looked at the other teams in the corridor.

"Apparently chief caught team CRDL bullying Rebecca Greene." another team leader said, sleepily walking out of his room as he put on his uniform, "ordered them to report for 'punishment platoon' at '0500."

"And what will they do in this 'punishment platoon'?" Weiss asked, walking out of team RWBY's room with Ruby and Yang trailing behind.

The boy shrugged, "Don't know, but I'm not about to sit around here and wait to find out, I'm going to watch."

"Move faster boots." Chief growled, crossing his arms as he watched them clumsily strap their armor on, "fall in! Single file line one beside the other! One arm length apart! Look straight ahead! No talking no moving!"

They scurried to get into the correct formation.

"We will begin this punishment platoon by running!" chief started, pacing in front of them, "no falling out, no lollygagging, anything i tell you to do you do! Failure to do this will result in a written warning and possible removal from this school!"

"You can't do that!" Cardin started to object.

"I can and I will Winchester," Chief said coldly, "this school is for huntsmen who wish to contribute to all aspects of society, not racist bullies who have a false sense of superiority. If you don't like it, leave, try your luck at another academy, otherwise you shut your trap, and you listen to me, understood?"

Cardin glared at him but didn't walk away.

"That's what I thought, LEFT FACE!"

The boys clambered to face left.

"Double time! MOVE IT!"

And so started two and a half hours of gruelling workout, Chief had Team CRDL go through every excercise that he could think of, crab walks, bear crawls, suicides, boundings, push ups, sit ups, pull ups, squats, anything and everything that he thought would tear them down, he did, only allowing them short breaks to rehydrate before jumping into the next exercise, by the end of the first hour, the boys had stopped complaining, by the end of the second they only spoke when Chief would ask something, and by the thirty minute mark they were barely able to move.

"Man that looks like torture." Yang said as she watched Cardin sluggishly bear crawl across the field. Dove lying belly up on his back, keeping his legs up and his hands balled around Cardin's shirt to try and keep from falling, behind them Sky and Russel were doing the same thing.

"You think he's gonna let them go soon?" weiss asked, "Classes start in like...thirty minutes."

"Do you think they'll be able to go? I bet their muscles are shot right now."

"They weren't excused." Coco reasoned, watching as Professor Goodwitch came walking out of the building.

"Professor." Ruby greeted as she reached them.

"Shouldn't you all be at breakfast?" she asked, pushing her glasses up.

"We wanted to see how one of Chief's punishments went." Yang said, getting a smattering of agreements from the group.

Professor goodwitch sighed as she turned her attention back to the four students being punished, three of them were on their hands and knee's, throwing up what little was left in their stomachs. Cardin was leaning against a tree, dry heaving after already relieving his stomach of it's contents.

"Oh man that's bad." one of the other team leaders muttered.

"You're free to go." Chief told them, looking at the four with a slight quirk at the corner of his mouth, "next time you want to bully someone, remember this, and don't do it."

"I can't feel my arms…" Dove whimpered as they limped back towards the dorms.

"I know man...i know.." Russell muttered, putting an arm around the other boys shoulder.

"Winchester!" Chief called, making the large boy stop, "Stay behind for a second."

Cardin sighed and turned around, limping back over to chief, who had his hands clasped behind his back, Cardin stopped right in front of him, looking slightly apprehensive.

"at ease," Chief said, making the boy untense slightly, "you're those boys leader, what you do, they do; you have a responsibility to them to do the right things at all times, and to keep them as far from trouble as you can, when you can. If you can't do that, then you had better step down so a better leader can be found, understood?"

"Yes sir." he muttered.

"Think about what I said Winchester, Dismissed."

Cardin turned around slowly and began walking again, chief popped his neck and slowly walked to the group that had been watching, "is there a reason you all came out here this morning?" he asked.

"Um...we were wanting to see what happens when you punished someone." Ruby piped up when it became apparent none of the others were gonna speak.

"Well now you know, so if you all would kindly move on before I start assigning more people to punishment platoon."

Almost instantly everyone cleared out, leaving Chief alone, smirking slightly.

"Well, your methods seem to work,"

Chief spared a glance at Glynda as the blonde teacher stepped forward, "a little...medieval for my taste, but they work."

"Sometimes medieval methods are required for hard heads." Chief said, "and Team CRDL certainly fits that description."

"and will all of your detentions be this...intense?"

"No, this was a special case." He looked to the sun, "time to go get ready for classes. Do you need anything else Professor Goodwitch?"

"Not...at this time, Master Chief."

"Then by your leave ma'am," Chief said, walking away

Glynda watched the spartan walk away, absentmindedly staring at his scarred arms and muscular back, slowly she realized what she was doing and shook her head, "damn it." She muttered heading the opposite direction.

WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

 **Three days later.**

Chief watched from where he was leaning against the wall as the first and second year teams slowly trickled into the combat room, many already in their combat attire. He cast an amused glance on Ruby, who was practically vibrating; the word had gotten out that there would be a chance to fight the Master Chief in the first and second year combat classes, and most everyone was eager to see how the large space man fought.

"Quiet down children!" Glynda Goodwitch called as the last teams entered the room and the bell sounded, "todays lesson is a very important one, and could very well save your life in future missions, so I would like all of you to quiet down and listen while I hand things over to Master Chief, Chief, the floor is yours."

Chief kicked off the wall and looked around, everyone was watching him with rapt attention, except for Cardin winchester, the boy had been quiet and broody since the punishment platoon, and had done anything he could to ignore Chief and stay out of his way. Chief hoped this meant that he was seriously thinking about what Chief had told him, but he wasn't going to hold his breath.

"Good morning," Chief began, "as many of you know, I am Master Chief Petty Officer John 117, and today, we will be going over the fundamentals and necessity of hand to hand combat."

"Hell yes!" Yang cheered, pumping her fist in the air alongside the other hand to hand fighters and brawlers, Rub had almost instantly lost all good cheer and quickly plopped down on her chair, trying to disappear altogether."

"At ease Ms. Xiao-Long." Chief said with a small amount of amusement in his voice, "now, many of you are probably in the belief that you won't need hand to hand combat, that it's completely unnecessary to your training as Huntsmen, but can anyone tell me why it would be detrimental to learn hand to hand combat?"

Several hands went up, Yangs hand included, Chief, surprisingly, gestured to Russel, who looked surprised to have been chosen, "Mr. Thrush, why is it essential to learn hand to hand combat?"

"Well...because...i mean...you won't...always have your weapons?"

"Is that a question or an answer, Mr. Thrush?"

"I...an answer, we won't always have our weapon."

Chief nodded, looking around, "he's right, you will not always have your weapon on you, and in the heat of battle, you never know when an enemy will disarm you; so learning to fight barehanded is essential."

"No one's ever gonna get my weapon out of my hand!" Ruby declared boldly, before quickly shrinking when chief stared right at her.

"I'm glad you said that Ms. Rose," Chief said, "would you please step down onto the combat floor, bring your weapon as well."

"I...would like to decline…."

"Now. Ms. Rose." Chief said pointedly, his voice leaving no room for argument.

"Okay…"

As Ruby slowly made her way down to the combat floor, Chief pulled his magnum, he quickly dropped the mag and ejected the round out of the chamber before setting the magnum on the ground, then he undid his blouse and put it on the ground, leaving him in a tight dark gray tank top that made many in the crowd whistle and cat-call, "at ease." Chief called out sternly, making most quiet down, "ms. Rose," Chief said, as Ruby stepped onto the combat floor, "I want you to attack me, hold nothing back."

"Uh...are you sure? You don't have your armor, or your weapons or…" she trailed off as Chief gave her a small smile, it caught her off guard as she had never seen the usually grim faced man smile.

"I'll be fine Ms. Rose, just come at me with everything you've got." Chief said, getting into a fighting stance, "go on Professor Goodwitch's command."

"Okay…" Ruby said, quickly deploying Crescent Rose and settling into her own stance.

"Match begins in Three…Two...One...Begin!"

Ruby shot forward like a bullet; her Scythe poised to strike behind her.

Chief calmly stepped forward as Ruby got within range, ducking under the swinging blade and grabbing the shaft, with a hard hit to her arm and a sweep of the leg Ruby was sent tumbling, her weapon now in the hands of Chief.

"Holy-" Jaune started to say, stopping when Pyrrha nudged him hard; meanwhile the rest of the room had burst into muttering.

"Did he just-"

"-But no one can catch Ruby-"

"-too fast for most anyone-"

Chief looked over Crescent Rose, "heavy," he commented, "a fine piece of hardware Ms. Rose," he carefully set the weapon down behind him, "Now, why don't you try and get it back from me?"

Ruby hesitated, before balling up her fists and shooting forward, attempting to swerve around Chief at the last second, but Chief's arm shot out and slammed into her chest, winding her and making her fall to the ground as Chief stepped back, "charging ahead recklessly isn't going to work." he said, "Speed isn't always the answer Ms. Rose."

Ruby slowly got up, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Chief met her stare unflinchingly, "do you concede? Ms. Rose?"

She shook her head and charged forward again, this time landing a solid punch on Chief's chin, before trying to follow up with a punch to his stomach, Chief barely flinched as he caught her arm and quickly used the momentum to pin it behind her back, gently applying pressure upward; making Ruby whine in pain for a few moments until Chief let go."

"You have a solid punch," Chief said, "but it would barely shake a leaf, much less a trained huntsmen or bandit." he looked around the room, many had gone quiet in watching the fight. Yang looked downright murderous. "Would you like to try again Ms. Rose?"

"I...I…" she hesitated, a tear slowly trailing down her cheek.

Chief stepped forward and put a gentle hand on her shoulder, 'There's no shame in admitting you can't do it Ms. Rose." he said softly, "I'm not here to shame you, or embarrass you; I'm here to help make you a stronger huntress, to help strengthen your weaknesses and build upon your strengths, understood?"

Ruby nodded, quickly wiping away her tears, "I can't do it." she confessed.

"And that's fine." chief took a step back and motioned to her weapon, "be prepared for lessons in hand to hand combat in the future Ms. Rose, I can personally over see them if you want."

"Thanks Chief." Ruby said as she picked up Crescent Rose and sheathed it on her back.

Chief looked up as the room began to mutter once more.

"Typical, Rose can't even beat some pumped up drill sergeant." someone muttered, "why doesn't that surprise me."

Ruby heard the comment and flinched slightly, her shoulders hunching just a little bit.

"You're next." chief said, pointing to the guy who had said the comment.

"What?"

"Did I stutter? Was I to quiet?" Chief asked dryly, "I said your next, step down here."

The guy slowly stood up, dusting off his brown leather jacket and fingering the swords at his side, "hate to break it to you sir, but you won't be getting my weapons as easily as you got Rose's.' He sneered.

"We'll find out, won't we?" Chief asked as the boy jumped down into the ring. Quick as a flash he pulled the curved blades from their sheaths, twirling them in his hands before settling into a defensive stance, flicking his head back to throw his long raven hair out of his face.

"Come on then, I bet I can beat you before the five minute mark." he said cockily, twirling his swords once more."L

"What's your name?" Chief asked.

"Daegar Grange." he said smoothly, "remember the name."

"On Professor Goodwitch's Call, Mr. Grange." Chief said, settling into his combat stance.

"3, 2, 1, Begin!"

Daegar began to circle the arena, attempting to goad Chief into attacking.

"Come on big guy, come get some! You were so tough when fighting a twelve year old weakling-"

"I'M FIFTEEN! AND A HALF!"

"-but you won't even try and attack me? Come on! What kind of coward are you?"

Chief raised an eyebrow, "is that your plan? Getting me to attack you so you can retaliate? If that's what you want-"

"-yeah that's what I want, so-OH SHIT!" Daegar yelped, jumping back as chief lunged, easily clearing the five yards between them and swinging his fist, which Daegar narrowly avoided.

"Is that how you want to play it?" Daegar growled, "Fine!" he jumped and turned rapidly in the air, blades becoming a blur of deadly metal. Without missing a beat, Chief whirled out of the way and grabbed the boys leg and yanked him out of the air, slamming him into the ground before picking him up and throwing him with all his might, sending him slamming into the barrier, his swords falling out of his grip.

"Keep in mind," Chief called to the class, "showy and flashy moves are not to be used in serious fighting, for a distraction, maybe; but for an actual attack…" he picked up Grange's weapons and threw them behind him, "they're just going to get you hurt."

Daegar slowly got to his feet, hesitantly looking past Chief to his weapons.

"Your time to shine, Mr. Grange, can you get past me to your weapons?" Chief asked.

Daegar glared at him and ran forward, swinging at Chief with a right hook, Chief easily blocked and hit him with a push kick, sending him sprawling back, "weren't you listening to the last round? Charging forward blindly won't cut it." Chief said, taking a step back, "get up and try again."

Daegar growled as he got to his feet, "this is bullshit man!"

"Is it? If it was then you'd already have your swords back."

Daegar let out an angry scream as he charged again, this time Chief swept his legs out from under him and drove his elbow into the boys chest, forcing al the air out of him. He got up and looked at the stands, where everyone had fallen silent, 'where's this boys team? He'll need help getting up."

Quickly three others got up and ran down to help their fallen team mate, who was still gasping for breath on the ground.

"Serves you right you jackass!" Yang jeered from her seat, earning her a hard cuff to the back of the head.

"I don't care how well you can fight," Chief stated as Daegar was dragged back to the stands, "as of right now, I doubt a quarter of you could fight hand to hand against me or Professor Goodwitch, if you think you can, I welcome you to come down and try, but no matter what, I do not want to hear a bad word spoken against anyone who gets called down here. Understood?"

There was a slight rippling of agreement and Chief nodded. "Alright, who's next."

For the next forty five minutes, Chief sparred against the majority of the class, and for the most part he was right, most didn't know a single thing about hand to hand combat except for how to make a fist, the few that did know how to fight, weren't the most skilled, only Yang, Ren, and Pyrrha were able to put up any sort of resistance against chief, and of those three, only Pyrrha was able to last more then five minutes, Yang had been knocked out cold around the four minute mark, and Ren had been easily put down after two minutes of hard fighting.

"Now that you see the trouble all of you have with hand to hand combat, you can all begin working on it," Chief said, "another day we will focus on learning how to fight, until then, I want all of you to at least research the best fighting style for yourself. Dismissed."

As soon as the word left his mouth, the bell rang, many began to limp away to their next class, while two stayed behind, Ruby and Jaune were fidgeting slightly at the door way, waiting on Chief who was walking their way, reloading his Magnum as he said his goodbyes to Professor Goodwitch.

"um...Mr. Chief sir?" Ruby started timidly, walking forward, "we were wondering...well...if you could help us with our hand to hand combat…"

Chief looked at the two, "i'd be happy to help." he said, "but if I'm going to be teaching you two, then you'll be following my schedule, understood?"

"Understood." Jaune said, giving him a small nod.

"Understood!" Ruby said, much more cheerfully.

'Good, meet me tomorrow morning on the cliffside fields at 0500."

"Thanks chief." Ruby said, walking away.

Jaune stayed, still fidgeting.

"Is there something else you needed Mr. Arc?" Chief asked, as he began to walk up the steps and out into the hallways of beacon.

"i...Yes sir...I...I wanted to ask...if...you would train me…"

Chief stopped and looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "I thought we just agreed that I would train both you and Ms. Rose in hand to hand combat."

"I...meant more then just hand to hand combat…" jaune said hesitantly, "I...I want to be a better Warrior over all...not just in hand to hand...Pyrrha's been helping me but...but I don't want to be a burden on her...and...your'e one of the best warriors I've ever seen…"

Chief studied him for a while, then nodded slightly, "Walk with me Mr. Arc, lets have a little chat about this."

WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

Chief sat down in the teachers lounge once more at the end of a long day, quietly drinking a mug of dark coffee as he looked over something on his scroll.

"Good Evening Chief." Glynda said as she entered the teachers lounge, heading straight for the coffee maker.

"Professor Goodwitch," he greeted, not looking up from his scroll, "How went the rest of your day."

"It went as usual, though barely any complaints about team CRDL, I suppose I have you to thank for that."

"I gave them a lot to think about." Chief said, leaning back, "what do you know of Jaune Arc."

Glynda hesitated as she added cream and sugar to her coffee, "he's a subpar huntsman with subpar grades and combat scores." she said, "though he has improved since the beginning of the year; why do you ask?"

"He asked me to train him, and I said I would." Chief said, leaning back in his chair.

Glynda looked surprised at that, "well...he shows a willingness to learn, I know he's been training with his partner for quite some time…"

"Did you know his transcripts are faked?"

Glynda's eyes widened, "What?"

"I had Cortana pull them up for me." he said, slowly sliding over the transcripts, "they seem a little too good to be true for a subpar huntsman in training, so I had her do some digging...these transcripts are an exact match to an Arc of a Different name, a one Juniper Arc."

"His older sister." she muttered, looking over the transcripts with new eyes, "but...this isn't right, Ozpin should have caught this easily!"

"Which means he probably willfully ignored them." Chief said, "which is dangerous."

"I'll say, if he's not up to the same standard as everyone else, then he could severely damage his teams chances at graduating!"

"Or worse," chief started, standing up and walking to the sink to wash out his coffee mug, "he could get them killed."

Glynda felt a chill go up her spine at that, she stood abruptly and made for the door."we have to go talk with Ozpin, Mr. Arc can't be allowed to continue on here!"

"If he hasn't expelled Arc by now then he's not going to expel him." Chief said, making Glynda stop, hand hovering just short of the door handle, "as you said, Arc has made progress since starting here, Ozpin probably thinks he's making enough progress."

"But that doesn't change the fact that he is still leagues behind the rest of his year! Missions are coming up soon, what happens if he isn't prepared for them?"

"That's exactly why I'm going to train him." Chief said, making Glynda look at him incredulously, "he'll need all the help he can get, from what I've seen he's a brilliant strategist, but a shitty excuse for a warrior. But he's got the heart and the will to become better." he put his mug up and walked over to Glynda, "I know that with the right amount of pressure and training, I can easily get him up to standard. Maybe even past it if I have my way."

Glynda hesitated, "it's risky, if he doesn't take the training seriously-"

"-he will." Chief cut in.

"And how can you know that?"

"Because I was in charge of them when we returned to the Dawn." Chief said, "I saw the look on his face when he was almost killed, and when he saw someone get killed; I spoke with him, he wasn't concerned about his own life, he was more concerned about what would have happened if his team had been placed in danger. He knows the risks, he knows how unprepared he is, and instead of bowing out and leaving, he's chosen to better himself." Chief moved past Glynda and opened the door, "that willingness to become greater, to strengthen his weakness, shows that he is completely serious about any training he takes up. And I will help him to the best of my ability. Starting tomorrow at 0400 he will be going through my work outs, my regime, I'll also be giving him a new load out, sword and shield can only get you so far." he looked at Glynda and gave her a grim smile, "He'll catch up with the rest of fall behind. And the latter isn't an option for him; I won't let it be an option for him."

Glynda nodded slowly, "okay...but I will be monitoring his progress, as well as sitting in on his training."

"I don't expect anything less."

WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

On the Island of Menagerie, on the outskirts of Kuo Kuana, a large figure clad in a heavy black rain-soaked cloak walked into a tavern, the figure looked about as he walked towards the bar, noting the two Faunus chatting quietly at a table near the window; one a deer, the other a cat with a long striped tail,he sat down in one of the chairs and quietly ordered a drink, all the while his ears were easily picking up the conversation the other two occupants of the room were having.

"-can't believe she hasn't fought back against those scum."

"She's trying to push through, be the bigger man."

"They broke her antlers off, that's a hate crime!"

"She said it was handled, okay?"

"Right, handled…"

"I'm serious, from what 'Becca's told me, they were punished, and it wasn't just a detention and a mark on their record, no...apparently a new professor at Beacon went Drill Instructor on them, gave them a...what did he call it...oh right, a Pizza Party."

"A Pizza Party? Sounds more like he threw them a celebration for being bigots."

"That's not what she described." the deer muttered, absentmindedly scratching behind his antlers, "said he worked them so hard that they ended up throwing up everything in their stomachs, didn't let them leave until all of them threw up."

"Wait...i've seen something like that before...back when we were training for the Guard...our CO called it an Ice Cream Social…" the cat shuttered, "horrible...this new professor a Faunus? Maybe an old guardsman?"

"No, she thinks he's from atlas, said he showed up one day with a group of first years on a mission, wore green armor."

The man in the cloak perked up at that, his head turning ever so slightly towards them as the bartender put a mug of beer in front of him.

"Green armor?"

"Yeah, said she thought he was an Atlesian soldier at first, but the armor wasn't anything she'd ever seen an Atlesian wear before.'

"Think he's a huntsman who forged the armor himself?"

"Don't know, he's teaching a leadership class there...maybe some kind of Black Ops Special Forces?"

"What's his name?"

The deep, slightly gravelly voice made the two Faunus finally look over to the new comer, who was currently taking a large gulp of his beer.

"Excuse me?" the cat asked, leaning back in his chair.

"What's the new professors name.' the man asked, putting his mug down, "he sounds familiar."

"This conversation doesn't concern you friend," The cat said dismissively, waving his hand at him like he would a bothersome fly, "go back to your drinking."

"He goes by the Master Chief," the deer piped up, making his friend glare at him.

The cloaked figure stiffened at that, slowly he stood and knocked the rest of his beer back before paying his tab and making his way back out into the maelstrom.

"Catch your death out there." the cat sniffed disdainfully, "where you off to in such a hurry?"

The man stopped for a few seconds and looked back, lightning flashed revealing a rugged face and a scar that ran through his right eye, "I have an appointment in Vale."


	5. Lessons to be learned

_he was on Reach, surrounded by his team, all of them mingling and laughing, they were in their dress whites, drinking champagne and liquor with ODST's and other Marines, music was being played by an unseen band, fast paced and loud. Chief stood amongst them all, still clad in his MJOLNIR Armor, rifle in his hand._

 _"The war is over chief." Kelly told him with a smile, holding a beer bottle out to him, "indulge a little."_

 _The sound of glass shattering made chief pivot quickly. His heart racing as he watched miranda Keyes giggle as she cleaned the mess she made of her shampagne glass, pink spikes protruding from her chest and back, a loud POP! Made him turn around once more to see Linda holding an open champagne bottle, her lower body gone, leaving a trail of gore and blood upon the floor as she laughed._

 _"This isn't right...this isn't right the war isn't over!"_

 _CRASH! BOOM! BANG!_

 _on and on the band played, covering the sounds of gunfire and explosions, Frederick was lying on the ground bleeding out from several spike rounds, Johnston was laid up against the wall, half his body burnt and his eyes glassy as he chortled; Kelly smiled at him as an energy sword burst through her chest._

 _"KELLY!" Chief shouted, raising his gun to fire at the elite who killed his friend, only for confetti to shoot out its barrel._

 _"You couldn't save us."_

 _Chief turned once more, this time gazing upon the blood covered corpses of his fallen comrades, Solomon burnt to a crisp, Carol Rawley covered in shrapnel wounds and burns, Samuel with his armor cracked open and bleeding heavily. All staring at him with sightless dead eyes._

 _"You couldn't save us and you can't save them." Samuel said in a monotone voice as Chief was suddenly falling, surrounded by visions of death and destruction; he was falling faster and faster, hurling towards the ground that was rushing up to meet him-_

Chief woke with a strangled cry, shooting into a sitting position while also grabbing his Magnum from under his pillow, holding it at the ready as he scanned the room; his breathing was shallow and quick and he was covered in a cold sweat.

"Chief?" Cortana asked cautiously from his scroll, "your vitals spiked, what's wrong?"

Chief scanned his quarters once more, eyes trailing over the sparse furniture and the uniform laid out on the chair across from his bed.

"Chief?"

"Its nothing…" chief muttered as his breathing returned to normal, "just a dream...what's the time?"

"0340, an hour and a half has passed since you went to sleep."

Chief let out a sigh and got out of bed, moving towards a drawer that held his uniforms.

"I know you were trained to function on minimal sleep, but aren't you pushing the envelope just a bit? You havent got a single night of full sleep since I brought you out of cryo."

"Call it an experiment," chief said as he finished getting dressed, "to see how long a spartan can function on an hours rest."

"Honestly. I'm beginning to wonder who's the real machine in this relationship."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out." he said dryly, walking out of the door, putting his scroll in his pocket. He walked down the quiet halls and out onto the lawns of beacon, in the distance he could see Jaune Arc waiting by an old tree, tiredly rubbing his eyes.

The training Chief was putting Jaune through was the typical training of an enlisted Marine at Boot camp, including not only combat training and workouts, but also the less physical oriented training such as keeping his uniform and room squared away, how to properly make a bed, additional leadership training, and even etiquette. Chief even taught him the general orders and the rank structure of the Marine Corps, assigning him the rank of Private.

The young huntsman was currently dressed in Mottled gray BDU's with M52B body armor over it, on his back was a large metal rucksack, which Chief knew was full of the standard issue equipment for a UNSC Marine, in his arms he carried a DMR, loaded with training rounds. He shifted back and forth, looking down at the VZG7 boots on his feet.

"You've been wearing those boots for almost a month Private." Chief said as he got closer, "they shouldn't be bothering you."

Instantly Jaune jumped to attention, as he had learned to do, "just not used to them chief." Jaune said as chief began inspecting his armor, making sure straps and buckles were secure, as well as making sure his armor was fit snugly against his body.

"Good job Arc, completely squared away for the fourth day in a row."

"I aim to please." Jaune said with a smile.

"Front leaning rest position." Chief commanded, "move."

Jaunes smile disappeared, "aye, aye sir," he sounded off as he got down onto his hands and feet, the DMR lying across the tops of his hands.

Chief mirrored his movements, "fifteen for breaking your bearing, private, marine corps count, by the numbers,

Jaune let out a quiet sigh before he began pushing, sounding off as he did, "1-2-3-1, 1-2-3-2, 1-2-3-3," on and on until he got to, "1-2-3-1-5" then did three in a row sounding off "1-2-3-4 I-love-the Marine-Corps." The entire time, Chief pushed as well, keeping with the cadence.

"Music to my ears." Chief mused, as he got to his feet, "recover."

Jaune got back up, trying to keep his breathing even as chief gave the order,

"Right face."

Jaune turned with practiced ease.

"Double time, march!"

They started off at a fast, steady pace, heading around the entirety of beacon, chief keeping cadence as they went, every now and then having Jaune sound off to a now familiar cadence.

"Helljumper, Helljumper where you been!"

"Helljumper, Helljumper, where you been!"

"Feet first into hell and back again!"

"Feet first into hell and back again!"

On they went, their only rest was when Chief called to rehydrate, "Drink water!" He would command.

"Bite the bullet!" Jaune would respond automatically before pulling out a tube that was connected to a Camelback in his ruck,biting the end and drinking the water that came out. Only a couple of sips, any more and he ran the risk of cramping up. Then he'd stow the tube away and they were off again, after thirty minutes of this, chief called for a halt.

"Front leaning rest position! Move!"

Once again they got down in push up position, "by my count! Down…up!"

"One!" Jaune sounded off.

For another ten minutes they pushed, with chief calling out when to go down and when to go up. Sometimes he'd have Jaune hold himself for fifteen seconds in the down position, his chest centimeters off the ground, before giving the command to push up, sometimes he'd call "half-way down," or "half way up," and Jaune would respond accordingly, the last few were once again marine corps count.

"Rest!" Chief called, allowing Jaune a few moments to catch a breath and rest his arms, "sit-up position! Move!"

They went through several other exercises in a similar fashion, with chief calling out the action and Jaune sounding off as he went, push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, Russian twists, jumping Jack's, planks, leg raises, bicycles, and pull-ups, until finally chief called, "recover!" And instantly both were back on their feet.

"Rest." Chief said, looking at his watch, "you have five minutes until Ms. Rose gets here, rest and rehydrate, don't go far."

"Aye, aye chief." Jaune sounded off before taking his ruck sack off with a groan and setting it down on the ground carefully, then he sat down and settled himself against it, removing his armor as chief looked to the tree where they had started, professor goodwitch was there, looking at her tablet, as she was one to do on these early morning work outs. She hadn't missed a day since chief had started over a month ago, watching the two work out and train as she documented it on her tablet.

 _Shes dedicated, I'll give her that._ Chief mused.

"Hey chief…"

Jaunes voice shook chief out of his musings, making him turn around to look at the boy, he had a contemplative look on his face,

"Yes private?"

"Who...who were the Helljumpers?" he asked, "I know they're probably classified...but we sing that cadence almost every day…"

Chief looked away, and Jaune looked down at his gloved hands, figuring chief was about to say "classified' and never bring it up again,he was surprised when Chief began speaking.

"Helljumper is another name for the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, or ODST's, they were the best of the best of the Marines, given intense training even harder then what I have you doing right now, trained for almost every eventuality and mission, they were normally dropped from high orbit down onto the battlefield, hence the moniker, they were given some of the best armaments and resources, and fought through many of the most bloodiest battles in the Covenant war." Chief looked at him, "they were the best of the best. Until the Spartans came along."

"They dropped in...from High orbit? But wouldnt they have...you know burned up?"

" _The pods they dropped in were built to survive the intense heat of orbital re-entry"_ Cortanas voice crackled out of Chiefs scroll, " _casualty ratings for a Helljump was typically low, though there were times when the pods would enter the atmosphere and explode due to faulty calculations or even entering the atmosphere at the wrong angle."_

"That sounds pleasant." Jaune deadpanned.

"Its an acquired taste." Chief said dryly as ruby appeared from the building, quickly making her way to them, "on your feet private, time for combat training."

"Aye, aye sir." Jaune sighed standing up as Ruby ran over.

"Morning chief!" Ruby said cutely, standing with her hands behind her back. She was dressed in tights and a loose shirt.

"Ms. Rose." Chief greeted, turning around, "glad to see you, now, lets get to work."

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Glynda smiled as she watched Ruby and Jaune spar, the two had made leaps and bounds with the training that Chief put them through, and she always felt a twinge of pride when she watched the two work as hard as they did

"Ms. Rose try not to overreach, it gives your enemies a chance to unbalance you." Chief instructed, "what have I told you about ignoring defense private!?"

Glynda looked at the master chief, his gruff voice critiquing and teaching the two young leaders, a slight lip quirk showing fondness of the two; she never saw any emotion other then slight irritation from the man, except for when he worked with these two, it was subtle, but was there in the tone of his voice and the subtle facial queues she was picking up.

"You look deep in thought."

Glynda jumped and quickly settled a glare on Rebecca Peach, who had snuck up on her while she was distracted, the petite auburn haired professor was leaning against the tree, idly picking at her manicured nails,"Thinking about a certain...gargantuan military man?" Peach asked innocently.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Glynda dismissed, looking back to the training, "i'm simply watching my students train."

"Mhmm, sure, how are they doing?"

"They've made great progress since they began a month ago, I daresay in a few more months they'll be some of the best hand to hand combat fighters at Beacon. At least if Chief has his way."

"And how is our residential spaceman adjusting to life here?"

"As good as can be I'd imagine." Glynda said.

"So you've been talking with him?" Peach asked in interest, leaning in.

"Barely, he's not one for long conversation if you haven't noticed."

"I've noticed that he talks the most with you."

"And what are you insinuating peach?"

"I'm insinuating that you and him have something going on other then 'training', and it possibly also involves getting sweaty." Peach quickly dodged the swipe from Glynda's datapad, "you can't deny that you haven't thought about it!"

"I haven't." Glynda grumbled, looking down at her datapad her eyes darting up to where chief was giving Jaune and Ruby their instructions for the next day.

"But you're thinking about it now."

"Because you mentioned it!"

"What's the worst that could happen with shacking up with him?"

"Other then the fact that he's my coworker?"

"Oh please, me and Barty go out all the time and we don't let it ruin our professional relationship."

Glynda gave her the stink eye, which simply made Peach laugh as Chief walked over, having dismissed his charges to catch a little bit of sleep.

"Morning Professor Goodwitch, Professor Peach." Chief greeted, settling into parade rest as he got closer to the two.

"Good morning Chief." Peach greeted, "good work with those two, i've never seen Mr. Arc so focused!"

"Pain is a great motivator." Chief said, looking back to where Jaune was limping towards beacon.

"I can see that." Peach looked back to Glynda, "so anyways Glynda, Port and Oobleck are ready for tomorrow, and we were wondering if you extended an invitation to the chief."

Glynda glared at the smug looking peach, "I was going to ask him when he was done." She muttered.

"Well, hes done now."

"I know that." Glynda gritted her teeth, then composed herself and turned to Chief, "the heads of department like to get together at a bar in Vale once in a while to unwind and discuss things, and I wanted to invite you to come with us tonight."

"We've tried to invite you before," peach chimed in, "but you usually didnt stick around for conversation."

Chief hesitated, "I'm not sure…"

" _Do it chief." C_ ortana spoke up in his earpiece, " _you deserve some time off that doesnt involve PT, it will also give you a chance to get to know our new allies."_

Chief sighed, "alright, I can tag along." He said to the two.

"I'll let Port and Oobleck know." Peach said, walking away, "you two have a good morning!" Soon she was gone, leaving Chief and Glynda alone by the tree. Glynda was busily tapping away at her tablet, while Chief was staring off towards the forest.

"It is good, that you're coming along." Glynda said softly, sending him a couple of sideways glances, "you haven't had a proper day off since getting here."

"I like staying busy." Chief said, "keeps my mind off things."

"What things?" She questioned.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself about." Chief assured her, he looked at his scroll and sighed, "I need to get to class, I'll see you in combat class this afternoon?"

"Of course," she said, watching him walk away, eyes wandering for a few moments until she shook her head, "Damn it Peach." she muttered.

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Chief buttoned up his blouse, absentmindedly checking his watch as he did.

"Do you really have to go in uniform?" Cortana asked materializing on his scroll.

"I don't have any civvies, so unless you want me to go in my skivvies-"

-im sure professor Goodwitch would love to see that."

Chief looked at her and narrowed his eyes, "what are you insinuating?"

"You're going to be late if you dont leave now." Cortana quipped, amusement edging her voice as she disappeared.

Chief rolled his eyes and picked up his scroll, then walked out of his room, heading down the halls at a brisk pace, giving nods of greeting to the few students he passed. His eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of the -RDL of team CRDL speaking in hushed whispers at a bench, but relaxed when he walked by and caught a small bit of their conversation.

"-did you know he apologized to Velvet?"

-been spending more time in the library too-"

"-think he'll be fine for the mission tomorrow-"

Chief smirked slightly as he walked past them, "seems like Mr. Winchester is starting to take things seriously."

" _After the pizza party you threw? It doesn't surprise me."_

Chief nodded to himself and made his way through the courtyard and onto a bullhead, waving at team RWBY who were sitting on one of the many benches on the airship beside two boys hed never seen before, "Ladies." He greeted, "gentlemen."

The group gave a smattering of greetings, with Ruby being the most enthusiastic.

"Hiya chief! Hows your day been?"

"Good," chief said, "what are you and your group up to this afternoon."

"Just heading into Vale for some studying." Blake supplied, shooting Ruby a look when she looked at Blake in confusion.

"Mhmm...and why not study here?" He asked, eyes narrowing.

"There's this new cafe downtown." Yang said easily, "has a bookstore in it, Blakeys been trying to get us to go to it for forever!"

"Change of venues nice too." One of the guys supplied.

"And you are?" Chief asked politely.

"Sun Wukong, leader of Team SSSN." he greeted, raising his hand up for a high five, chief quirked an eyebrow and stared at him until he wilted and pulled his hand back with a nervous chuckle, "this is Neptune, my right hand dude." He said quickly, gesturing to the blue haired boy.

"Sup," Neptune greeted, sweating nervously when Chief turned his steely gaze to him.

"A pleasure to meet both of you." Chief said slowly, "I take it you're from one of the other huntsman academies?"

"Y-yeah, Haven!" Sun piped up, "well I was originally from Vacuo, but Haven offered a better program so i… " he trailed off when Chief turned his attention to Ruby.

"Sounds like a fun day," he mused, "enjoy your day in Vale, though I don't think you should've been allowed to go considering the mess you made at lunch."

"Eheheh...if it makes you feel better, we cleaned up after ourselves…"

Chief gave an amused chuckle, "I guess you did, carry on ." with that the chief stepped off the now landed bullhead, heading down the street towards the bar Glynda had told him about, "Cortana." Chief started.

" _Yeah Chief?"_

 _"_ Keep an eye on them, they're up to something and I want to know what."

" _Got it, I'll alert you if anything happens."_

"Thanks Cortana." He said as he stopped in front of the Crow Bar, hesitating at the entrance for a few seconds before stepping in, almost instantly he was assailed by cheerful noise and laughing, for a few moments he was back in his dream, with dead and dying comrades all around him, a quick shake of the head dispelled the vision and he was back in the bar, attempting to calm his racing heart.

"Chief!" Port cheered from the bar, raising his mug into the air, his coat was off and his cravat undone, "How are you good sir!"

"Chief!" Oobleck exclaimed, zooming over to the large man, who looked very much the same except his tie was off,"absolutely ecstatic to have you here! Absolutely ecstatic!"

Chief gave a tight smile, "Good to see you both," he said, looking over to where Peach and Glynda were talking quietly, sipping on wine, both were out of their usual outfits, Peach was wearing a flowy orange shirt and a pair of capris, Glynda was wearing a purple v-neck sweater and a pair of black tights. Her hair was out of it's usual bun and was instead tied back in a loose ponytail.

"Best be careful with those roaming eyes." Port said, walking unsteadily over to Chief and patting the larger man on the shoulder, "I've seen Glynda send men flying out of this bar for less!"

"I'll be careful then." Chief said as Oobleck zoomed away and then back with a mug of beer for him.

"Indeed, indeed, now lets drink and make merry!"

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Ruby fiddled with her hands, nervously looking over her shoulder as she and Weiss made their way towards the CCT tower.

"Ruby what's wrong?" Weiss finally asked, "you've been playing with your hands and looking behind us for the last fifteen minutes, you're starting to make me nervous."

"It's nothing, I just...maybe we should've told Chief about all of this? I mean...he may be able to help."

"Chief is a Soldier, not a huntsmen, I don't think he'd know how to help."

"I...guess you're right...but still…"

"Ruby it'll be fine, if it makes you feel better, you can talk to him about it tomorrow during your training, but it's too late to get anyone else involved."

"Yeah...I guess you're right…"

"Good, now lets get inside and find what we need."

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Chief smiled after listening to Ports last story, Port and Oobleck were laughing loudly as they leaned against each other, attempting to stay upright.

"Someone sounds like they're having fun over here." Peach said, walking over with Glynda behind her, Peach sat next to Oobleck, putting her slender arm around the drunk mans waist, Glynda sat next to Chief, her hands firmly placed in her lap.

"I'm just regaling the tales of my times at Beacon!" Port boistered, 'and giving young Chief here a glimpse of a true heroes life!"

"So you've been telling him stories about Ozpin?" Peach quipped, making everyone laugh while Port looked offended.

"I am the true hero!" Port grumbled.

"One scared of mice." Oobleck chortled.

"They're vermin and a plague to this planet!" Port exclaimed.

"Just leave the heroing to us Port." Peach chuckled bumping her friend with her arm.

"Make me." Port said childishly, smirking slightly when Oobleck threw an arm around peaches shoulders.

Chief chuckled at the friends antics as he brought his beer up to take a drink.

"I'm glad you decided to come today." Glynda said, making chief look to her, "it's good to see you finally relaxing.

Chief gave her a small smile, "you were right, I needed some shore leave." He said, looking over to the other three professors who were giggling, "they're good people, aren't they."

"Better then most." Glynsa said softly, "I don't know where we'd be without them."

"They're a capable bunch." He said. Taking a drink of his beer.

Glynda nodded, then took a deep breath, "so...theres a restaurant downtown...just opened the other day...Peach says it's very highly recommended."

"Does she now."

"Yes she does...I was thinking about going next weekend...would...you like to accompany me?"

Chief hesitated as he looked at the cautious yet hopeful look on Glynda's face, "I...I think-"

"Chief." Cortana called from his scroll, catching all of their attention, "we have a problem."

Chief pulled out his scroll and held it out, allowing Cortana to materialize in front of them, "what's the situation."

"I was tailing team RWBy like you asked. Apparently they were trying to investigate the white fang, Ms. Belladonna is currently being chased by an older model atlesian Paladin and her teammates are attempting to stop it, theres quite a bit of collateral damage already."

"Then let's not waste any time." Port declared, straightening his jacket as he began to walk/stumble out of the bar, a zooming oobleck went to follow, only to slam into the wall. Comically sliding down its surface.

Peach shook her head, "they'll be fine by the time we get there, we'll run damage control on the freeway while you two go grab the idiots responsible."

"Copy." Chief said, striding outside with Glynda at his side.

"Will you be fine without your armor?" Glynda asked.

"I should be fine."

" _Well we dont have to find out if your right about that."_ Cortana said as something streaked towards them, a locker slammed into the ground a few yards away, popping open to reveal chiefs armor, " _I made some modifications to your armor with a few Atlesian Knights I appropriated."_ the armor suddenly opened up, " _you can now put your armor on without needing outside assistance."_

Chief smiled at that, "Cortana, you're a genius."

" _I try."_

"Go on ahead while I ready up." Chief said, taking his blouse off and tossing it on the sidewalk as he walked towards the locker.

"Dont take too long." Glynda said as she used her semblance to launch herself into the sky.

"I wont be."

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Torchwick smiled as Neo got them onto the bullhead, "well then Neo, I think we've both earned ourselves a glass of whiskey and some ice cream!"

Neo grinned at that and began to walk towards the cock-pit. Only to be thrown to the side by an unknown attack from outside the bullhead.

"What now!?" Torchwick snapped, staggering into the cock-pit to look out the window and groaning when he saw a very familiar huntress. "Neo! Deal with her!"

Glynda glared up at the bullhead that was currently being assailed by icy spikes that she had conjured, "you're not getting away this time." she muttered, as she flicked her riding crop and sent several pulses of purple energy at the ship, making it rock dangerously.

A cold feeling at the back of her neck made her roll to the side, narrowly avoiding a thin blade that had been aimed for her neck. Neo frowned at the woman as she returned the blade to her carousel, she grinned when Glynda got into a fighting stance.

"Neo will meet us at the hide out," Torchwick said to the pilot as the bullhead began gaining altitude once more, "get us out of here-" He stopped as a loud metal Thud! Sounded from above him, "What now…" he groaned.

"Could be debris from the overpass hitting the hull, should stop in a bit." The pilot said. Then the windshield shattered and an armored arm grabbed the pilot by the neck, throwing him out of the ship.

"Oh hell!" Torchwick shouted running out of the cock pit and jumping out of the now out of control bullhead, rolling across the dusty ground as the ship crashed into the ground. He watched as the bulky form of Master Chief emerged from the fiery wreckage.

"So, this is the demon Adam was talking about." Torchwick muttered, standing up, "cant we talk about this like two consenting adults?"

"Theres nothing to talk about." Chief said. Pulling an MA5B rifle off his back.

Torchwick rolled to the side as Chief unleashed a volley of accurate fire, he came out of the roll running, firing his own shots at the gargantuan soldier, two of the explosive rounds crackled off Chiefs shield. Forcing Chief to relocate, firing as he went.

Neo twirled out of Glyndas way, watching the fight between Chief and Roman, her eyes switched in anger and she attempted to jump over to help. Only to be picked up and slammed into one of the freeway pillars.

"Your fight is with me young lady." Glynda said sternly, pushing her glasses up.

Neo glared at the older woman and attacked, her blade whistling through the air as she slashed, jabbed and stabbed at Glynda who blocked or dodged all her attempts, their deadly dance was only interrupted once when Roman was thrown between them, Chief hot on his heels, Neo jabbed her blade at his back, hoping to catch him off guard, only to wince as her blade broke against his armor.

"Cheap metal." Chief said, turning on his heel and swinging his fist at the multi-colored girl, the hit sent her flying through the air, crashing against the wrecked hull of the Bullhead.

Torchwick slowly got to his feet, "Neo! Disappear!" he shouted as Glynda advanced on him, summoning several strips of metal that wrapped around his body until he was securely tied up, "GO!"

The disoriented girl gave her boss one sad look before disappearing in a shattering illusion.

"Cortana, see if you can track her." Chief ordered as he walked over to Torchwick.

" _On it chief."_

"Well, you pack quite the punch there Gigantor." Roman drawled with a lazy smile, "what do ya say we call bygones bygones so i can skidaddle on ho-ERK!" Roman choked on his words as chief hauled him up by the neck.

" you will remain quiet until it's time for your interrogation." chief growled at him.

"Got it...won't even whisper." Roman choked out, gasping as chief dropped him.

"Peach and the others have the freeway secure." Glynda said, looking towards team RWBY, who had stopped short of joining them, all four girls looking very worried.

Chief reached up and pulled his helmet off, his eyes glaring at the team of four, "Get Torchwick to the proper authorities.' he said, walking towards the girls, listening to the reports that Cortana had for the fight.

Glynda hesitated, half of her wanted to stop chief, but knew that whatever he needed to say to them, was probably what they needed to hear.

Chief stopped in front of Ruby, who seemed to shrink slightly as he levelled his gaze upon her, 'what were you thinking?" he asked, his voice ice cold.

"We were just-" Yang started.

"Was I talking to you Xiao-Long?" Chief asked abruptly, cutting Yangs words off.

"Well...no… but-"

"-but nothing Xiao-long, you will speak when spoken to and not a moment before, now." he looked back to RUby, "What, were you thinking?"

"We….we wanted to do something about the White Fang." Ruby said, refusing to look at her mentor, "We were going to find out what information we could and put a stop to them."

"And four Students were going to do this?" he asked, putting emphasis on the words students.

"We've done it before." Blake said, stepping forward, "We stopped them from getting a shipment of dust last-"

"-i know all about that." Chief interrupted her, "I also know that you didn't 'stop' them from completing their mission, you only engaged them. And wrecked half of the dock in doing so." he looked to Weiss, who seemed to be the only one following Ruby's lead, 'What you four did tonight was stupid, wreckless, and dangerous. Do you have any idea the damage you did to the city?"

"What's a little collateral damage compared to trying to stop terrorists!?" Yang asked hotly. "Some property damage is acceptable losses!"

do you call dead civilians acceptable losses?" Chief asked coldly, making all four huntresses stiffen at his words, ruby seemed to retreat further into her cloak"Despite what you seem to think, there were people on that freeway tonight, none were expecting a stolen paladin to run amok on their daily commute! As of right now we have fifteen civilians in critical condition, and we have four dead, all because you four wanted to play hero."

Ruby fell to her knee's, tears in her eyes, "We didn't...we didn't think…"

"You didn't think." Chief agreed, "If you had thought then you would've brought whatever information you had to either myself or Professor Goodwitch, instead you ran off half-cocked. Those lives are on you."

"Tha'ts not fair!" Blake exclaimed, jumping to ruby's defense, "Ruby's not the one who made us do this-"

"Whether or not she made any of you do anything is not the point, the point is that Ms. Rose is your Team Leader, she is responsible for all of you and what you get up to. The fact that she went along with this hare-brained scheme shows just how inexperienced she is."

"At least we were trying to do something!" blake snapped, "No ones been trying to stop the White Fang from doing what they're doing, we took a stand-"

"You are not the only Huntsmen in this city." Chief overrode her, "nor are you privy to the information of the teams who are actively working against the white fang. What you did tonight could have potentially harmed their own mission if not put them in jeopardy. All so you could satisfy your own guilty conscience."

Blake closed her mouth at that, her ears drooping slightly.

Ruby's sniffling made Chief look to the young girl, tears were trailing down her pale cheeks uninterrupted, "We just wanted to help…' she whispered.

Chief sighed, his shoulders sagging slightly, "I want a mission debrief in my office in an hour,' he said, looking to Weiss, "tomorrow morning you will ALL show up for punishment platoon, including the two who were with you at the start of this venture, understood?"

Weiss nodded slowly.

"Get Belladonna and Xiao-long out of here Schnee, I'll take care of your team leader, Dismissed."

"But-" Yang started.

"Dismissed." Chief said again. His voice dropping a few degrees.

Weiss carefully guided Yang away, "She'll be fine Yang." she whispered as they walked, Blake a few steps ahead of them.

Chief disengaged his armor and stepped out, taking a few steps forward before kneeling down beside Ruby, "Rose, Look at me." he said softly, making the young girl look up, her eyes were red from crying, though she was attempting to stop herself, "you need to understand that things like this will happen. And while you may think that you know whats best, there is a command structure for a reason, what would've happened if i hadn't of had Cortana following you tonight? What if one of your teammates had gotten hurt and we didn't have any access to a bullhead?"

"We...we just thought…we thought everything would be fine." she mumbled out, hugging her arms close to her chest, "we thought our plans would work…"

"No plan survives first contact with the enemy…" he sighed, running a hand over his cropped hair as Ruby began to sob, slightly awkwardly, he put his arms around her in what he hoped was a comforting hug, she clung tightly to him as soon as he did, crying into his chest.

"I didn't want anyone to die." she sobbed out.

"We never do." Chief said sadly, he let her cry herself out before gently pulling away, "look at me Ruby."

Ruby looked up once more into the tired blue eyes of her mentor, "it hurts to say, but this is a lesson that every leader has had to learn, when facing the enemy, you never attempt to engage them in a civilian populated area, you did have the right idea bringing the fight down here, but this fight should have never happened. Next time you think you have something, you bring it to me, and I'll do what I can to help. Just promise me that you will never attempt to go off on your own."

She nodded slightly.

"I need to hear you say it Ruby."

"I promise…" she croaked out.

"There's a good girl." Chief said, standing and helping RUby to her feet, "come on, lets get you and your team back to Beacon.

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A few hours later.

Chief stood atop the teachers quarters, staring up at the moonlit sky.

"Chief."

The soft voice of Glynda made Chief slowly look back, the teacher had changed out of her outfit and was now in simple pajama bottoms and a white T-shirt, her hair loose and free, "i'd have thought you'd be asleep after all the excitement today."

"I wanted to go over team RWBY's mission brief.' Chief said, looking back to the sky, "they were sloppy, they should've never sent Ms. Belladonna and Mr. Wukong into the white fang meeting, both are too recognizeable after their last run in with the Fang-"

"-can't this all wait until tomorrow?" she asked him, walking over to stand beside him arms crossed.

"It could." chief admitted, "but sleep isn't something that comes easy to me anymore…" he felt her eyes on him, and he didn't know what compelled him to speak, but he did, "I see them...in my dreams...the ones I lost in the war...the ones i had to leave behind…" he sighed, "they haunt my every waking hour, and they ruin any chance of sleep that I even think of getting...I don't want these children to be the same. They don't need to be haunted by the Ghosts of their own making."

"They're training to be Huntresses." Glynda said softly, "its a lifestyle that rarely leaves people without scars...whether physical or Mental."

"That doesn't mean you can't minimize the damage." Chief replied, "tonight will haunt Ms. Rose for a while now, but i've already scheduled counseling sessions for her and her team...something my own superiors never did for me."

"Surely they did something to lessen the impact?"

CHief shook his head, 'We were in a war of extermination, an alien race was attempting to completely wipe out the human race, and we Spartans were the 'secret weapon' to stop them. They didn't care how we handled anything because we were supposed to not let it get to us." he gave a humorless chuckle, "we couldn't even mourn our dead…"

"What do you mean?" Glynda asked in concern, turning fully to Chief, who was still looking up at the sky.

"Spartans never die, They're just missing in Action." Chief said softly, "I said that after one of my men died in the first fight with the Covenant. It was meant as a way to honor his sacrifice, to say that his memory would live on with us...Fucking War department took that and made it official doctrine to list any and all Spartans who died as MIA. to give us the illusion of being invincible…" a single tear slowly trailed down his cheek, "I lost a lot of good friends...men and women I saw as family...and I couldn't properly mourn their passing because we weren't meant to…" he trailed off, lost in grief that he hadn't confronted until tonight.

Glynda reached out towards him, then stopped, not knowing how he would react to physical comfort, "the war is over chief…" she said softly, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder, "you arent a mindless machine just waiting for your purpose to come to an end, you're a human who has just as much emotion as a civilian...and I think it's time you've come to terms with the fact that you can now properly mourn your comrades...and make a new life."

Chief stayed staring at the sky, his shoulders slowly untensing as Glynda leaned into his side, staring up at the sky with him.

"If you'll have me…" he started carefully, "I'd like to go to that restaurant you were talking about, my treat."

Glynda smiled softly, "such a gentleman...I look forward to it."

The two teachers watched the night sky for a few moments longer before they turned to enter the building once more, both a step closer then they would normally be, both ready for the challenges they would face come morning.

WVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVVWW

High above the world of Remnant, an anomaly occured.

Much like the one that had brought the Master Chief, this one brought with it a ship that was unlike any other seen, sleek, and purple, as well as on fire, just behind it another ship came, similar to the Dawn and likewise burning as it was caught by the gravitational pull of the world below, both ships listed as they sped towards the planet, the purple ship lost it's back half as it tumbled towards the wild lands of Sanus.

The human ship, much too damaged for even a trip through slip space, broke apart in the atmosphere. Only a single life pod survived, streaking across the sky as a mistaken shooting star and crashing into the dark forests of Sanus, it's lone occupant slowly stumbled from the wreckage, and while it's armor was different, there was no doubt that this man was much like The Master Chief. With black hayubasa armor with white detailing, on his back was a sheathed katana and on his chest was an empty sheath for a kukri, in his hand was said kukri, stained with purple blood, with a grunt he knelt down and wiped the blade against a patch of grass before sliding it back into it's sheath; he looked back to the life boat, his eyes gliding over two dead marines with sadness. The re-entry hadn't been a smooth one, and the already injured marines hadn't survived past that; with a sigh he scavenged ammo from them and picked up the battle rifle lying beside one of them, attaching it to his back before he picked up his sniper rifle. he stepped out of the life pod once more, pressing a button on the side to close the hatch.

"I will return to bury you...this i promise…" he whispered as he began to walk away, stopping just short of a meadow, he scanned the horizon and narrowed his eyes as he saw smoke in the distance.

"Gonna be a bit of a walk…" he muttered to himself as he began to walk, stopping slightly when he saw an IFF tag on his HUD, "No...it can't be…" his right hand came up to switch his radio on and whistled the familiar tune that every spartan knew by heart.

He only waited for a few seconds before his radio came to life.

"Sierra 052 to Sierra 212, Kaz, is that really you?" the gruff voice of Jorge came over the radio with a burst of static.

"Good to hear your voice brother." Kaz said in relief, "thought you were dead."

"Well you know what they say, Spartans never die….gonna assume you're partly responsible for that ruckus that just came down to the west?"

"Roger that, Covenant Splinter cell thats been causing trouble for the UNSC for the past year, improvised a slipspace bomb to deal with them, caught me and half my ship in the blast."

"Any other survivors with you?"

Kaz looked down, "None...all units KIA…" he looked up again, "I think I have your position, stay where you are and I'll come to you."

"Copy that, better be ready for a fight, that ship came down not to far from a settlement, and I know for a fact the locals won't be happy."

"Settlement? Is this a UNSC planet?"

"Heh...do i have a story to tell you Kaz."

 **shout out to compareddread12 for his OC Kaz, sorry it's been a while since i've updated, work and life in general has made things a little heptic, i'll try and get content out quicker, until then.**

 **Peace Out.**


End file.
